In this issue:
Science students land coveted internships
in Paris BY SUZANNE L. MCGRADY
Three students have ‘backstage pass’ on library
project BY SUZANNE L. MCGRADY
Hark back to your Hilltop days: Selections from
the Red & White archives
Chapel talks:
Choosing happiness BY VICTORIA LEONARD ’11
A shower of thoughts fits together BY ZACH MASTRODICASA ’11
The ‘well-rounded me’ came before the ‘egg’ BY CHAD L ARCOM ’11
Finding home in an unfamiliar place BY ABI MOATZ ’11
Giving (and getting) a second chance BY SAM PETERSON ’11

St . G e o r g e ’ s S c h o o l
M i s s i o n St a t e m e n t
In 1896, the Rev. John Byron Diman,
founder of St. George’s School, wrote in his
“Purposes of the School” that “the specific
objectives of St. George’s are to give its students the opportunity of developing to the
fullest extent possible the particular gifts that
are theirs and to encourage in them the desire
to do so. Their immediate job after leaving
school is to handle successfully the demands
of college; later it is hoped that their lives will
be ones of constructive service to the world
and to God.”
In the 21st century, we continue to teach
young women and men the value of learning
and achievement, service to others, and respect
for the individual. We believe that these goals
can best be accomplished by exposing students
to a wide range of ideas and choices in the
context of a rigorous curriculum and a supportive residential community.
Therefore, we welcome students and teachers of various talents and backgrounds, and we
encourage their dedication to a multiplicity
of pursuits —intellectual, spiritual, and physical—that will enable them to succeed in and
contribute to a complex, changing world.

Mon., May 30
St. George’s School admits male and
female students of any religion, race, color,
sexual orientation, and national or ethnic
origin to all the programs and activities generally accorded or made available to students at
the school. It does not discriminate on the
basis of religion, gender, race, color, sexual
orientation, or national or ethnic origin in the
administration of its educational policies,
scholarship and loan programs, or athletic and
other school-administered programs. In addition, the school welcomes visits from disabled
applicants.

* For information on additional events, visit the St. George’s School Facebook page, our web site
www.stgeorges.edu or contact events coordinator Ann Weston at Ann_Weston@stgeorges.edu or
401.842.6731.

St. George’s
Bulletin
The Alumni/ae Magazine of
St. George’s School
Newport, R.I.

This magazine is printed on paper that is certified
by SmartWood to meet the Forest Stewardship
Council standards. FSC sets high standards that
ensure forestry is practiced in an environmentally
responsible, socially beneficial, and economically
viable way.

just got through reading Patti Smith’s memoir of
her relationship with the artist and photographer
Robert Mapplethorpe called “Just Kids.” It was a
great book that also made me think a lot about memories—the memories we
have of people we’ve come
to know at one time or
another in our lives, and
the way our memories can
either elude, or invade, our
minds at times.
I remember going to
see Mapplethorpe’s work in
Boston in 1989 and the
hauntingly beautiful pictures he took of Smith. In
her book, Smith’s memories of her growing bond
with Mapplethorpe are so
sharp and keen. Probably
because she kept journals,
she could write about even
the outfits she wore back in
the 1960s. The book was a
testament to keeping track
of the small moments that
will matter later in life. But
then again, when you have those meaningful
moments, the mind pictures and those waves of
emotion, so pure, seem next to impossible to quell.
What are your memories of the Hilltop? This
edition of the Bulletin includes an archival spread of
Red & White front pages aimed in particular at this
year’s major reunion classes. Perhaps the headlines
will bring back memories for some. And please note:
The full editions of all those stories are available on

our web site. They could even provide some talking
points around those reunion roundtables.
Memories are also what make up a number of
chapel talk themes (pp. 20-31). It’s remarkable how
many of our students use their chapel talks to reveal
parts of their childhood selves, how powerful those
memories are for them, and how even early on in
adulthood, young men and women grow nostalgic
for times gone by—as they will for the rest of
their lives.
When baseball great Bob Feller died this winter,
the news brought back some indelible memories for
a few of our alums. (“Hall of Fame pitcher once
visited the Hilltop,” p. 18). Nothing like pure, raw,
God-given talent—which we have in abundance here
at SG—to do that. Have you checked out our
YouTube channel? I dare you not to get chills listening to Elodie Germain ’12 and L’Oreal Lampley ’11
singing “Amazing Grace.”
Of course being on the Hilltop is also about
getting the chance to make new memories, and the
teachers and students here are working hard to move
forward productively in their academic pursuits. Two
girls will get the chance to study in France this summer at the famed Curie Institute (“Science students
land coveted internships in Paris,” p. 3), and three
boys are learning about architecture and sustainability in the real-life work site that is the Hill Library
construction project.
And speaking of memories … Recently our
students rallied to get the school on board to help
them plan a classic prom. Sure the Winter Formal has
always served as the school’s fancy dance, but it seems
the students are looking to make one more of those
dressed-up nights for the memory books.
Hope the photographs are spectacular.

Suzanne McGrady
Bulletin Editor

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Science students land
coveted internships in Paris
BY SUZANNE MCGRADY

It’s an impressive answer to the question,
“So what are you doing this summer?”—
“I’m doing cancer research in Paris.” And that’s
just what two of our standout science and language
He ydi M al avé ’11 and Sa die
students—H
M cQ ui lk in ’12—are able to say thanks to
the careful planning and teamwork of
Head of the French Department Al lis on
de H or sey and Tom Eva ns, a biology and microbiology teacher in the Science Department. Malavé and
McQuilkin are scheduled to spend three weeks in

Paris in June and July—two of them as research
interns at the world-renowned Curie Institute, one of
the top medical, biological and biophysical research
facilities in the world specializing in the treatment of
cancer. They will be the first-ever high school age
interns to study there.
For St. George’s, the program is a real coup—
representing a promising extension of our global and
off-site curricular offerings, and a progressive, real-

Sadie McQuilkin ’12
and Heydi Malavé
’11 work in the
biology laboratory in
the Science Center.

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HIMETOP. WDFILES . COM

The Institut Curie
at 26 rue d’Ulm,
Paris.

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world application of an interdisciplinary course of
study. For Malavé and McQuilkin it’s the chance of a
lifetime: Neither has been to Europe. “And these are
students who are really passionate about science,”
said Evans.
How the internships came about is a study in
determination and the desire to find superior students superior opportunities. Evans was inspired by
de Horsey’s expansion of her summer cultural
immersion trip to Paris in which she secured weeklong internships for four students last summer:
An drew Co la c ch io ’10, S op hie Flynn ’11, L inn ie
Gum mo ’11 and Ma c k Fe ldm an ’11 each took part in
an internship at either Poilâne, a famous artisanal
bread bakery; Hôtel de Banville; Tg Communication,
a public relations firm specializing in luxury goods;
or Gatard et Associés, a research and marketing firm.
De Horsey named it the Global Cultural Initiative
Program (GCIP). Evans, who’s also helped land a
number of science-centered internships for his students in the United States, asked de Horsey to investigate an opportunity at the Curie, and she embraced
the chance to move into new territory.
“I was really excited when Tom approached me
about finding an internship in Paris for French/biology students,” de Horsey said. “It’s not an obvious
collaboration, but that’s what’s so great about it—we
found an incredible cross-curricular opportunity at
the Curie Institute that will add another unique
component to the GCIP program and Tom’s science
internships—another layer of learning for the students and what they can bring back to the classroom

S T. G E O R G E ’ S 2 0 1 1 W I N T E R B U L L E T I N

for our departments.”
De Horsey said the two teachers have similar
thoughts about the positive impact that internships
can have on their students. “And though our disciplines are different, our objectives are the same: to
find meaningful learning experiences via internships
that will allow our students to put their skills to use
and expand their knowledge—the ‘learning by doing’
model,” she said.
This semester Evans and de Horsey are meeting
with both Malavé, of Newark, N.J., and McQuilkin,
of Portsmouth, R.I., outside of the regular class
schedule to get the girls even more prepared for the
internships. They’ll be studying alongside some of
the most respected scientists in the world—
researchers like Anne Houdusse, head of the Curie
Institute’s Structural Motility Team, who was the
recipient of the prestigious FEBS/EMBO (The Federation of European Biochemical Societies and The
European Molecular Biology Organization) Women
in Science Award for 2009 for “outstanding contributions to the field of structural biology.”
McQuilkin’s research will focus on the proteins
involved in cell movement. Investigating the way
proteins are moved to different places inside cells or
secreted from cells helps scientists better understand
how diseases develop.
Malavé will delve into the study of cellular signaling, or the ability of cells to perceive and correctly
respond to their microenvironment. Miscues in
cellular processing result in disease.
At the Curie, the girls will get an inside look at a
vast network of facilities, including a research center
on biophysics, cell biology and oncology and a cancer
treatment hospital. McQuilkin, a section editor for
the Red & White student newspaper and a standout
runner on the cross-country course, says her favorite
subjects are biology and English, so she knows she’ll
likely pursue those in college. The medical field draws
her, she said, because “that’s just an awesome field to
help people.”
“My aunt had breast cancer,” she added. “Knowing that I could help people like her would be great.”
The internship, McQuilkin said, might help her
narrow down which areas of the medical field she

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wishes to pursue. “It may help me decide whether I
like the research aspect or want to be with people and
be a pediatrician or something like that,” she said.
Malavé, who graduates in May, knows the experience will ready her for further study in college. “I’ve
never really had any research training except for here
in micro[biology] class,” she said, “so I can use those
skills and obviously learn more.”
Malavé, meanwhile, is all about the science. She’s
taking the year-long A.P. biology course; she took
microbiology first semester and is taking the D.N.A.
science elective this spring semester. She says she is
especially happy to be investigating the research side
of the medical profession. “We need vaccines, we
need medication for people who are already suffering
from these diseases. There’s not only a need to practice medicine, the research is also important.”
“Studying microbiology and preparing for the
internship have opened a new way of thinking for
me,” Malavé said.
Of the cross-disciplinary aspect of the trip,
Malavé said, “It think it’s perfect.”
“Not only are you into a new culture, but you’re
going to get an academic perspective on research. In
both fields you’re going in there knowing that you’re
not necessarily the top at it, but you’re going to learn
a lot from it—language and science research.”
McQuilkin admitted the adventure is a little
intimidating. “But I think being able to combine
different disciplines is going to be a great way to
apply what we’ve learned here,” she said.
Evans himself also was preparing to branch out
into new territory. “A lot of this is beyond what I
teach in the classroom, so I’ll be learning along with
them and hopefully together, we’ll get them ready to
go over there, and hopefully the professors will be
impressed. They’re going to be put right to work.”
For the last few years, as Evans has incorporated
real-life research on AIDS into his advanced placement biology course, he’s talked to a number of
researchers who he said want to support science in
schools. “Almost every one of them told me that
what we need are younger people getting involved in
this challenge now,” Evans said. “We need more
basic science.”

“We need more and more young people to get
passionate about science and research earlier.”
In the French classroom, both Sadie and Heydi
are also excellent students, according to de Horsey.
McQuilkin won the Alliance Française Prize last year,
for excellence in French at the intermediate level, and
skipped a level—going from French 3 Honors to AP
French. Beyond their strong language skills, though,
both girls distinguish themselves as curious, motivated students. “They are not afraid of a challenge
and always work to mastery and a higher level of
understanding in French,” de Horsey said.
The traits are just what de Horsey looks for when
selecting students for the GCIP, itself inspired by the
Global Engagement and Culture of Innovation pillars
of the Strategic Plan. “I’m a huge believer that internships are the next step after the classroom in the
learning process,” de Horsey said. “What’s being
taught in the French classroom can be experienced
directly through student travel and cultural immersion. Education can continue through internships to
show students how skills are honed and how careers
can be built around cultural interests.”
De Horsey says she told her students at the end
of last year she’d be meeting with the Director of
Education at the Curie Institute, Jacqueline Legras,
about the possibility of establishing an internship.
McQuilkin sent her an e-mail written in French the
day before she left for France to say she was very
interested. So when de Horsey met Legras she was
able to tell her she had a student in mind for the
program. Madame Legras’ response was, “Don’t you
think it’s our responsibility to create these opportunities when we have motivated students?”
“Right then I knew that we had similar philosophies and that the chance of an internship becoming
a reality was strong,” de Horsey said. “It even gave me
the confidence to ask for two internships.”

Sadie McQuilkin ’12
and Heydi Malavé
’11 will take part in
a two-week
internship at the
Curie Institute in
Paris this summer.

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Three students have ‘backstage
pass’ on library project
As the school seeks LEED certification for the building,
these boys are actively involved in the process

Alex Wilsterman
’11, Evan Read ’12
and Alex Elron ’12
are taking part in a
special project
during the winter
term focusing on the
reconstruction of the
Hill Library.

6

Every Wednesday afternoon after classes, three
students with an interest in architecture and sustainability head over to the center of
campus where the Hill Library is undergoing an $8 million restoration/expansion project. The three make their way
into the cavernous interior of the nowgutted structure where they’ve been
getting a behind-the-scenes look at the
building project—one that no other students and
very few faculty members are even privy to. In the
process, A l e x E l r o n ’12, A l e x Wi l s t e rm a n ’11, and
E va n R e a d ’12 are also helping the school notch
one more point toward the coveted LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification of the building, showing St. George’s

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commitment to best sustainability practices.
For the boys, getting involved in a special project
centered on construction and environmentally
friendly building has been a true education. While
they are interested in the project—the building materials, the construction techniques, the science behind
the new 215-foot tower on the north façade of the
library—they’re also deeply involved in the community. “We’re interested in the school. We want to
know what’s going on here,” Elron said.
Throughout the winter sports season, the three
boys have been spending the afternoon wearing their
own personalized hard hats and getting a guided tour
of the project from Site Supervisor Renato Cabral of
Shawmut Design and Construction. “Having this
opportunity to go ‘backstage’ and having the superin-

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tendent of the entire project as a guide has been so
interesting,” Elron said.
St. George’s is on target for a “gold” level LEED
certification of the library project and a few points
from “platinum.”
Administered by the U.S. Green Building Council,
the LEED certification process isn’t for the faint of
heart. It’s imperative that the project even in the beginning stages of design be focused on environmentally
friendly building practices and operation goals. Certification is based on a points system, in which points
are earned in categories such as sustainable sites, water
efficiency, energy and materials. LEED certification for
schools goes even further by guiding education centers
in the construction or renovation of buildings that
provide healthful and environmentally sound areas for
students and teachers. Within a 100-point rating system, the project earns points that determine whether
the building gets one of four levels of certification:
certified, silver, gold or platinum.
By getting certification, St. George’s is showing
its commitment to sustainability, and building with
an eye toward the impact on the environment and
operational efficiency.
For the students, learning about building—literally from the ground up—has been something of a
coup. “I have really enjoyed this project,” Read said.
“It has been a very humbling experience. It has
helped me realize how much goes into making a
building, especially a LEED-certified building. Often,
what seems like a pragmatic solution is made complicated by various safety factors or environmental

issues that only a specialist would have considered.”
Each of the boys is taking on different aspects of
the project to study. Elron’s research includes site
selection, water use reduction, construction waste
management, and daylight and views, while Read is
taking on stormwater design (quality and quantity
control), water efficiency as it relates to water efficient landscaping, optimizing energy performance,
materials and resources (with a goal to maintain 75
percent of existing walls, floors, and roofs), indoor
environmental quality and green cleaning. Wilsterman is researching alternative energy, certified wood
(ours comes from Maine), the use of Energy Star
appliances, water-efficient landscaping (it’s hoped
rain run-off from the roof will help water a garden
near Twenty House dormitory), and indoor chemical
and pollutant source control. As a group the three
are also integral to the “LEED as a teaching tool”
component of the certification.
“I think I can speak for all of us when I say we
have gained a deeper appreciation for the work all the
men and women have contributed to this project,”
Read said.
Wilsterman agreed. “It’s been great to be able to
see the progression of the library even through the
small time period we have been doing the project,” he
said. “To be able to talk to the superintendent of the
project when we go in has been a huge help, too. He
answers any questions we have and is one of the
friendliest people I have ever met.”
“Wednesdays,” Elron added, “are something that
we all look forward to.”

The new entrance
and stair tower for
the Hill Library
began to take shape
in January and
February.

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Reunion Weekend ’11
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ANDREA HANSEN

Alumni/ae invited
back May 13-15
Mark your calendars for another great
Reunion Weekend in May, says Events Coordinator Ann Weston.
Scheduled events begin Friday, May 13, and
are of special note to reunion classes. As usual, the
weekend kicks off on Friday evening with the
presentation of the St. George’s distinguished
alumnus/a award, the Diman Award, which this
year goes to Peter Woicke ’61, former investment
banker and managing director of the World Bank and
the current Board Chairman of Ashesi University in
Ghana and Chairman of the International Save the
Children Alliance. A welcome reception as well as
a variety of evening events for individual reunion
classes will follow the Diman Award presentation.
Saturday’s activities include Chapel tours,
class visits, student and faculty panel discussions,
a picnic lunch on the front lawn and a formal
dinner at the Stephen P. Cabot and Archer Harman Ice Center. This festive dinner celebration
is in honor of all the reunion classes.
Alums will be receiving an invitation to
Reunion Weekend in early March, but for now,
save the dates—May 13-15. Please visit our website
atwww.stgeorges.edu for Reunion Weekend registration, hotel information, weekend schedule and
a list of alumni/ae who have already registered.

REUNION CL ASSES

PHOTO BY

SUZANNE MCGRADY

1936 • 75th

Senior Picnic, Spring 2006.

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1976 • 35th

1941 • 70th

1981 • 30th

1946 • 65th

1986 • 25th

1951 • 60th

1991 • 20th

1956 • 55th

1996 • 15th

1961 • 50th

2001 • 10th

1966 • 45th

2006 • 5th

1971 • 40th

Hark back to your Hilltop days
The next section of the Bulletin was put together in an effort to spur a memory, reconnect
you with your past, and in the meantime show off another “Web Extra” on our website. On the
following pages you will find a selection of front pages from the student newspaper,
the Red & White—one each from the graduation years of our major Reunion classes
from 1941, 1951, 1961, 1971, 1981, 1991 and 2001. But fear not: We know this may just be a
tease. We’ve added the full editions of each of these papers to the Archival Miscellany section
of www.stgeorges.edu.
We hope you enjoy the opportunity to browse through what may be a forgotten portion of
your past. And we hope you stay actively involved in what we have going on today. Browsing
through these papers reminded us that no matter the era, a thread of continuity—exhilaration
and angst—marks the high school years. Meanwhile, if any of this content prompts an urge to
reconnect with the community, please do post your thoughts on our Facebook page.
We welcome the dialogue—and continuing the ongoing story of St. George’s.

PHOTO BY

SUZANNE MCGRADY

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Hilltop archives
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W H E N ?

Advertisements from the February 2, 1938, Red & White, recall a different
era, when a Thames Street business rented typewriters to students and there
was a “department store” in Newport. And yet ice cream (though Dutchland
Farms is no longer in business) has remained a hit throughout the decades.
S T. G E O R G E ’ S 2 0 1 1 W I N T E R B U L L E T I N

Hall of Fame pitcher
once visited the Hilltop
BY SUZANNE MCGRADY
Alums recall seeing
Feller, who remained
among the elite
power pitchers in
baseball history,
throw from the
mound on North
Field behind the
St. George’s Chapel.

18

W

hen baseball great Bob Feller died on
December 15, 2010, in Gates Mills, Ohio,
at the age of 92, at least a few St. Georgians were struck with a personal memory of the
famed fastballer.
Recruited to the majors directly out of high
school (he never had to pay his dues in the minors),

S T. G E O R G E ’ S 2 0 1 1 W I N T E R B U L L E T I N

Feller interrupted his career midstream to serve in the
Navy—and for a time he was stationed in Newport.
Julian Sloan ’45, Porky Ballard ’43, Robin Rogers
’44 and Peter Ward ’43 all report seeing Feller hurl
his trademark heater from the mound on North
Field behind the chapel.
“I was an impressed little kid and awed by his
celebrity,” said Sloan.
At the time Feller, who had already played for the

Cleveland Indians for five years and garnered national
attention for his remarkable pitching prowess at a
young age, was training at the Naval gunnery school.
Another of his assignments, however, was to put
together a Naval baseball team. According to the
Newport Daily News, Feller looked over hundreds of
players and eventually chose 30 players with backgrounds in minor league and college teams.
One day the team apparently made arrangements to practice on the Hilltop. Published reports
at the time say Feller also made a few local public
appearances. In June 1942, he told the members of
the Sportsman’s Club, which met at the Hotel
Viking, that he was coaching a good club but was
handicapped by lack of a real ballpark.
Rogers says he remembers standing with fellow
students behind the backstop on a spring day in ’42
and knowing full well the boys were in the presence
of greatness.
“He threw the ball so fast that it went through
the backstop!” recalls Ballard, who said even though
Feller himself was still only in his 20s, the boys
looked up to him as a man. “Certainly a sports hero,”
Ballard said.
Elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1962 and
the winningest pitcher in Cleveland Indians history,

Feller still regarded his time in the military as some
of the most influential years of his life.
In an essay he wrote on his military service,
“Answering the Call,” Feller claimed he always felt he
was a “Navy man at heart.”
“I never have to strain my memory to recall the
day I decided to join the Navy. It was 7 December
1941. I was driving from my home in Van Meter,
Iowa, to Chicago to discuss my next contract with
the Cleveland Indians, and I heard over the car radio
that the Japanese had just bombed Pearl Harbor. I
was angry as hell.”
Feller had already spent almost six full seasons in
the major leagues, with a record of 107 victories and
54 losses, and he had a family-related draft exemption.
“But I knew right then that I had to answer
the call.”
After four months in Newport, Feller was
assigned to a battleship, the USS Alabama, as a
gun-captain, and saw action off Tarawa, and in
the Marshalls, the Carolines, and the Philippines.
But in August 1945, he returned to his baseball
roots. “Just 15 days after the United States
dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, I went
on inactive duty,” Feller wrote. “It was back to
baseball after that.”

Top left:
William Feller
caught the fast
balls fired by his
son at his own risk.
When Bob was just
eight, he broke three
of his father's ribs
with a pitch.
Top right: Bob Feller
warming up during
the 1940 season,
when he went 27-11
as a 21-year-old.

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Different Takes
H A P E L

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A L K S

PHOTO COURTESY OF

VICTORIA LEONARD ’11

C

Choosing happiness
Smaller joys can add up–if you notice them
BY VICTORIA LEONARD ’11
Following is a chapel talk delivered on Nov. 4, 2010.

Victoria Leonard ’11
poses with family
members at her
Confirmation service
last year in the
Chapel. With her
are her grandparents,
Joseph Gagne and
the late Rita Gagne;
and her grandmother,
Marsha Leonard.

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ood morning. I’m going to start us off with
a fundamental question of philosophy: Who
am I? Cliché right? Yeah I know, but let’s just
go with it for a while. After some soul searching, I
have concluded that I Am A Noticer. I’m perceptive. I
notice things—about people, words, places, hair, the
sky, a song, the grass, pretty much anything.
For example, let’s take the chapel. While some
kids sit in chapel and stare across the aisle into each
other’s eyes, I tend to look up and around. Have you
ever noticed that those two angels up there don’t have
bodies? Did you know that there’s a baby lamb in the

S T. G E O R G E ’ S 2 0 1 1 W I N T E R B U L L E T I N

back eastern window? What about the ceiling above
the organ? It has stars painted all over it. Or, how
about the plethora of wild beasts in the altar window?
There are also a few enormous oil paintings in the
back that tend to be overlooked. And when you’re
walking through the chapel during the day, have you
ever noticed the spots of colored light on the walls?
Did you realize that even after almost everyone is out
of the chapel, Doc G continues to play organ pieces?
Well, those are just a few of the little hidden treasures
that I’ve picked up on.
I also pride myself on noticing changes. For
example, when Mary K returned from summer her
hair was substantially lighter! Or, just recently, a

display of miniature pumpkins was installed on the
Great Room’s mantel. So autumnal! When I notice
something that provokes a question, like “How do the
enormous Main Common Room doors stay open
without a latch?” I go on little investigations to solve
the mystery. I discovered that there are magnets on
the bottom of each door, which attract to a magnet
on the wall! Isn’t that fascinating? I think so.
Maybe I’m alone or wicked weird because I
delight in these little factoids and tidbits, but I truly
believe that it’s the little things that help us get by and
that give day-to-day life special meaning. If we’re
only truly happy when we win a game or ace a test,
then honestly, joyous moments would be sporadic,
and I don’t think we should live like that.
A hug in the hallway or an especially funny e-mail
on the Food Court really gets me going. I also love it
when there’s a faculty member standing behind you in
chapel and they just belt out the hymns. These little
things also help me recover. Let’s say I bomb a test A
period on Friday. I feel terrible, hate myself for not
studying more, and just become the largest of Debbie
Downers. Then, I walk into King Hall … and it’s taco
day. Instantly a smile spreads across my face and my
heart flutters. Taco day! My mood is significantly
altered and I can put the test behind me and just relish
in euphoria. Well, that’s a little exaggerated. But really,
small things like that affect me.
This past summer I went through something
much more difficult than bombing a test. Actually, it
was the hardest period of my life. Right before Prize
Day, Memere, my grandmother, fell down and was
taken to the hospital. The MRI showed that there was
a tumor growing around her spinal cord. Mem and
Pep, my grandfather, live in Wakefield, which is one
town over from where I live. It’s no more than an
eight-minute drive and consequently for my whole
life, I haven’t gone more than three or four days
without seeing them, and even that’s a stretch. They
used to babysit me every Tuesday and I would sleep
over at their house a lot. Basically, they were always
around. So, it hit me pretty hard when I realized that
we had to move Mem to a nursing home because she
couldn’t stand up or get around by herself. But honestly, I wasn’t really worried. She was a two-time

breast cancer survivor and it didn’t even cross my
mind that anything would happen. But as the summer progressed we weren’t seeing very much
improvement.
Even though Mem was always in the back of my
mind, I focused on little things to help me get
through the summer. My family and I relied on each
other to stay positive and help each other to continue
to live our lives. But, inevitably, sometimes I would
get anxious and worried. It was in those moments
that little delights kept me going. Playing tennis with
my boys or going to the farmer’s market with my
sister and mom would distract me and let me enjoy
the summer. A day at the beach with my family
would propel me to be positive and realize just how
lucky I am. Nothing put me in a better mood than
when my dad wore his red T-shirt that says “Pope My
Ride” with a picture of the Popemobile on it. The fact
that he doesn’t really get the MTV reference makes it
even better. Or when he would try to convince me
that “crisp” was going to be this year’s word for “cool.”
He would then singlehandedly make the prophecy
come true by frequently dropping phrases like “your
shirt is criiiisp.” Anyway, those were just a few of the
things that helped me cope.
But unfortunately, as summer came to a close, we
were forced to accept that Mem wasn’t going to get
better. Soon after, her pain ended and she passed away.
At that point in particular, small delights were especially important to me. Any tiny thing that I could
find beauty in made it that much easier for me to deal
with losing one of my biggest supporters, and someone whom I loved more than anything in the world.
Above all, it was the love offered by my family and
friends that I relied on to survive this difficult period.
Now, when I find myself stressed, or missing
Mem, I force myself to stop and look around. At
school and at home, there’s always something or
someone that reminds me of how lucky I am and
ensures me that everything will be OK. I’ve discovered that the seemingly mundane parts of my day are
the ones that I cherish most. Being woken up by
nudges from my dog’s nose or being able to drive to
school when the sun is rising over the water are just
two of the thousands of little gifts I receive every day.

S T. G E O R G E ’ S 2 0 1 1 W I N T E R B U L L E T I N

21

Different Takes
H A P E L

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PHOTO COURTESY OF

VICTORIA LEONARD ’11

C

Victoria Leonard
’11, shown here at
the SG compost bin,
worked on a special
project last fall
that focused on
sustainability and
local farming.

22

Appreciating the small pleasures in my life also allows
me to gain perspective as to what is important, and
what isn’t worth freaking out over.
I remember a few weeks ago I was at Sweet Berry
Farm with Mr. Leslie, working on my special project.
I’m doing my project on sustainability with a focus
on local farming. Our task for the day was to shuck
Indian corn: not very glamorous. We set up a table
behind the barn and began ripping the husks away
from the cobs. The kernels were revealed to be multicolored and they looked like gemstones. Every time a
new cob was opened, we would say that it was more
beautiful than the last. We started a little competition
to see who would find the most special cob of all. I
distinctly remember Mr. Leslie shouting “Yahtzee!”
after finding a cob covered in bright red kernels. In
an activity as minor as shucking corn, we were
awestruck by true beauty. This goes to show that if
you take the time to look for something to cheer you
up, it’ll be there.
So, next time you’re walking through the Schoolhouse, check out the inscriptions on the walls and
notice crests on the ceiling. Or if you’re headed down
to the beach, take a look at the school’s compost bins

S T. G E O R G E ’ S 2 0 1 1 W I N T E R B U L L E T I N

behind Merrick House. And when your favorite
hymn is chosen for chapel, don’t be shy! Sing it loud
and proud!
Step back and think about how many times you
laugh during the day. Start noticing when you make
other people laugh. We all have the power to make
someone’s day so try and go out of your way to thank
someone who always has your back or makes you
giggle and know that even the smallest thing you do
can positively impact everyone around you. Appreciate what you have, and don’t let the little things that
make you smile become insignificant. Henry Ward
Beecher said, “The art of being happy lies in the
power of extracting happiness from common things.”
There are millions of simple pleasures to be found
here at St. George’s; don’t let them pass you by, and
remember, you can always choose happiness.
V ic to ri a Le o na rd ’11 of Narragansett, R.I., is a
school prefect, head of the SG Choir, head of the
Women in Leadership club, and a member of the
Snapdragons a cappella group, the handbell choir
and the varsity tennis team. She can be reached at
Victoria_Leonard@stgeorges.edu.

ZACH MASTRODICASA ’11
PHOTO COURTESY OF

A shower of thoughts
fits together—like
pieces of a puzzle
BY ZACH MASTRODICASA ’11
Following is a chapel talk delivered on Nov. 16, 2010.

I

twist the knob roughly halfway so that the water
is the perfect temperature. I step beneath the
spout to feel the stream begin to penetrate my
thick hair and wet my scalp. I snap open the shampoo, and as I begin to massage the foam into my hair,
it starts, almost as habitually as my shower routine

itself: Ideas, memories, hopes and daily recollections
all begin to enter my mind as if I am scrubbing them
into my brain as I lather my head. Nevertheless, I
know why this consistently occurs, especially at an
institution such as St. George’s, where one’s time in
the shower is one’s only consistent moment of solitude when the mind is free to wander.
Just a few days ago while I was in the shower, the

A younger Zach
Mastrodicasa ’11
and his family
members play their
favorite Game Boys.

S T. G E O R G E ’ S 2 0 1 1 W I N T E R B U L L E T I N

23

Different Takes
H A P E L

T

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PHOTO COURTESY OF

ZACH MASTRODICASA ’11

C

A childhood photo
shows Zach Mastrodicasa ’11 and his
two sisters, Hillary
and Shelby, with
geese during their
annual summer
vacation on Long
Lake in Sudbury,
Ontario, Canada,
where Zach’s mother
is from.

24

memory of my favorite childhood video game,
“Banjo-Kazooie,” drifted into my head. The goal of
this Nintendo game is to use a bear, Banjo, and his
bird companion, Kazooie, to navigate several worlds
in search of “Jiggys.” These “Jiggys” are golden puzzle
pieces that can be attained by completing certain
tasks and have the power to unlock new worlds
within the game until you reach the witch, whom
Banjo and Kazooie had to battle in order to save
Tootie, Banjo’s kidnapped sister. I used to play this
game for hours on end, year after year, while my little
sister, Shelby, watched me.
This recollection prompted another memory of
when my family constructed a brand new jigsaw
puzzle only to be left with one missing piece. Equally
confused and disheartened, we searched everywhere
for the final piece to join the 999 others and complete
the 1,000-piece puzzle, yet to no avail. Although we
knew exactly what we were looking for, no amount of
searching could solve this dilemma, so we gave up,
and left the nearly complete puzzle on the table.
Before I was finished pondering this old memory, another thought popped into my head. I
remembered when the word “jigsaw” itself first made
a registered impact on my brain: after I watched my
first R-rated movie. You may be familiar with the
“Saw” films, but if not, it is a horror series based
upon an old man named Jigsaw. In the films, Jigsaw
kidnaps people he deems not grateful of life, and
places them in various ghastly traps he calls “games.”
Jigsaw’s aim in creating these assorted traps is to test
the person by giving them a bizarre ultimatum in

S T. G E O R G E ’ S 2 0 1 1 W I N T E R B U L L E T I N

which they have to make a choice between extraordinary pain and death. For example, in the first film,
one victim, Paul, was a man with a decent life,
yet who decided to slit his wrists, presumably for
recognition and attention. According to Jigsaw, the
irony of Paul’s situation was that if he genuinely
wished to die, all he would have to do in the trap was
simply stay where he was and the trap would become
his tomb. However, if his self-mutilation was indeed
only for acknowledgement and he actually wished to
live, he would have to “cut himself again” by piloting
his way through the tight barbed wire maze out of
the trap to freedom. Jigsaw’s gore-filled tests such as
this one cause him to be frequently perceived as a
villain. Yet, just as the movie’s title “Saw” contains a
double significance representing both the tool and
Jigsaw himself, I argue Jigsaw’s intentions aren’t as
one-dimensionally evil as they may appear. Although
I admit Jigsaw’s methods are immoral, wrong and
unethical, and that the films are unnecessarily
explicit, I do agree with the message Jigsaw attempts
to pass on to his subjects: that being thankful for life
is the most vital concept of all.
At this point in my shower, I began to rinse off,
when yet another thought crossed my mind. With
Thanksgiving on the horizon I began to contemplate what I myself am most thankful for in life, and
concluded that I am most appreciative of all the
characteristics I have received and inherited from
other people. For example, I believe I received wits
from my father, personality from my mother, artistic thought from my older sister, and my partial free
spirit from my younger sister, who always does as
she pleases. Additionally, I received emotional
strength from my aunt, Sharon, who discovered she
was pregnant days after she lost her husband in a
traumatic car crash. My Uncle Michael is laid back
and has taught me how to differentiate between
what is truly important and what can be less important probably because he was raised and still resides
in northern Ontario, Canada, where the atmosphere
and lifestyle always seem so stress free. At St.
George’s I’ve collected a few more pieces, such as
wisdom, articulation, and the fine art of arguing.
Thanks, George. However, perhaps I am most

ZACH MASTRODICASA ’11

with my puzzle thought complete, I had one final
idea. I imagined how wonderful it would be one day
to have the largest hot water tank possible so I could
just linger in the shower for hours thinking and
reminiscing until my mind attains an acute enlightenment. Which brings me to my final piece of advice
for you: to think. Now this sounds quite obvious but
I’m not referring to class and homework, but rather
times such as when you’re in the shower, or before

PHOTO COURTESY OF

thankful that I have received my gratitude puzzle
piece, though I’m not sure where exactly from,
without ever having to endure one of Jigsaw’s tests.
This contemplation helped me recognize that, in a
way, we all are like human jigsaw puzzles; multifaceted with many different characteristics. With the
water turning cold, I further realized the age-old
advice “to be ourselves” is impractical, since other
people gave countless pieces of our own anatomical
puzzles to us.
At the end of this reflection, I turned off the
shower and reached for my towel assuming my roaming brain had finally returned. I was wrong because
just as I began rubbing my hair dry it felt as if I had
rubbed one more thought into my head.
In the “Saw” movies, Jigsaw cuts a jigsaw piece
out of the victim’s flesh if the victim fails the trap. I
think Jigsaw does this to symbolize that the victim is
missing their gratitude piece—which brings me back
to my family’s puzzle mystery. After a few days in
which our 999-piece puzzle sat on the table unfinished, we noticed the missing piece had been put into
its place. It turned out that my little sister had taken
one piece when we began the puzzle in order to
ensure that she would be the one to place the final
piece. In that instant, every thought that was jumbling around in my brain fused together for a
moment. I realized that building a puzzle is a lot like
building your character and self. At first, it’s difficult
as there are only a few pieces in place. However, after
some time, you begin to develop and build the foundation of your life with pieces inherited from others,
much like a puzzle’s frame is formed. Eventually,
despite an assortment of setbacks, you progress, and
find your identity by discovering who you truly are as
a person just like when you near completion of a
puzzle and are able to see what it depicts. Nevertheless, just as everything is coming together and you
think you’re about to reach completion, you may
come to realize you are missing a piece. My advice to
you is, when you get this feeling, instead of simply
assuming the piece is lost after a few minutes’ search,
as my family did, seek out the person who is holding
onto that last piece you need.
When I got back to my room after my shower,

you go to bed. Just as the journey matters in terms of
our final destination, I believe thought process is of
monumental importance in evolving our completed
ideas. I encourage all of you to simply let your mind
drift off the next time you come across one of these
free moments because in the end you never know
what your traveling thoughts may trigger; they might
even produce a chapel talk.
Zach Mastrodicasa ’11 of Millis, Mass., is head of Red
Key, the admissions tour guide group; senior dormitory
prefect in Diman; senior writer on the Red & White;
and has been on both the Disciplinary Committee
and Student Council. He plays football, hockey
and baseball, and his biggest hobbies are fantasy
football and rocketry. He can be reached at
Zach_Mastrodicasa@stgeorges.edu.

“When I see this
photo [of my family]
it reminds me of my
childhood and the
basic ‘puzzle pieces’
I inherited from
each member,” says
Zach Mastrodicasa
’11.

S T. G E O R G E ’ S 2 0 1 1 W I N T E R B U L L E T I N

25

Different Takes
H A P E L

T

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PHOTO COURTESY OF

CHAD L ARCOM ’11

C

The ‘well-rounded me’
came before the ‘egg’
BY CHAD LARCOM ’11
The Larcom family at
Thanksgiving: Erin
Larcom, 21, Patrick
Larcom, 25, Ian Larcom, 17, Chad Larcom
’11, Mrs. Elizabeth
Larcom, Mr. Charles
Larcom and Elizabeth
Larcom, 12. (Missing is
Megan Larcom, 22, who
was teaching English in
Egypt before being
evacuated to Qatar by
the State Department in
February.)

26

Following is a chapel talk delivered on Nov. 30, 2010.

W

elcome back to the Hilltop, I hope you all
had a restful and fun break wherever you
ended up going. Throughout my time
here at SG I’ve heard my fair share of unique and
engaging chapel talks. I’ve listened to the “Tao of
Tofu,” learned that there is something you can take
away from the “Saw” movies, and learned a lot about
other people and what their experiences can offer me.
I’ve learned a lot in my four years of listening to
chapel talks, and now I hope I can give back some-

S T. G E O R G E ’ S 2 0 1 1 W I N T E R B U L L E T I N

thing I’ve learned.
I grew up one of eight in a military household. I
was born in Augsburg, Germany, and have lived in
five states from Alaska to upstate New York.
The dogma of my childhood was the pursuit of
being well rounded, the mythical Renaissance man,
the jack-of-all-trades. No one ever told me not to be
well rounded. Until, that is, someone told me to be an
egg. Prior to this advice, I sought “Grade-A” perfection in everything I did. From planning fundraisers
to pop quizzes, everything had to be perfect. Even the
most insignificant activities of daily life were consid-

ered essential for my well-rounded development. I
based this assumption on the successes of my five
siblings (including my twin), who all fervently strove
to be the best in everything.
Take my Thanksgiving for example. My older
brother successfully baked a “pumple” cake, which is
a pumpkin pie cooked inside a chocolate mayo cake
and an apple pie cooked inside a vanilla carrot
cake, all topped with star and buttercream frosting!
Immediately following the unveiling of this baked
behemoth my sister Skyped in from Egypt to inform
us that she was now not only teaching English on a
Fulbright Scholarship but being paid to play on a
basketball team and rowing in the Suez Canal. Yes, in
case you were wondering, I have a lot to live up to. As
a result, as of two years ago I contiguously played
nine different sports, considered five states and two
countries home, and claimed interests ranging from
surfing to playing the trumpet. Whether my fervor
for activity hatched from the intense environment of
a large, ambitious, Army-brat family, or from my own
internal competitive nature, the result remains that I
sought only to be well rounded.
Thus, my approach to life was scrambled when a
teacher told me to be an egg.
At first, I’ll admit, I thought he was crazy. However, as my junior year of high school went by, I realized what he meant. He didn’t want me to smell like
an egg, look like an egg, or break like an egg. He
wanted me to shape my life like an egg. To live eggshaped is to be arguably well rounded but to have a
focus point, an aspect of life that you are sensitively
conscious of and focused on. It means realizing there
is something you love and concentrating on it to
achieve not only sufficiency in that field, but excellence. Once you start to do this you stretch your
perfect sphere of traits towards a specific point of
interest, in essence you become an egg. Once this
ovoid lifestyle is attained, not only do you stand out
in a certain aspect, but all of your other skills and
traits start to lend themselves to that focal point.
Sure enough, much to my surprise, my teacher’s
ovoid philosophy began to take form during my
junior year biology class. I had always managed to do
well in school, but before this class I never really

made a connection between my classroom experiences and my extracurricular life. Soon I started
drawing connections between my seemingly unrelated summer activities, with my family’s past, and
what had become my favorite subject in school, biology. My work with the Pan-Massachusetts Challenge,
a cancer research fundraiser, stemmed from my
mom’s battle with Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, and
contributed to my interest in biology. I began to see
that while I used to do many activities in the pursuit
of being well rounded, not every one of these activities contributed to a greater purpose. Recognizing my
passion for biology and embracing the egg-shaped
philosophy have allowed me to take all of my talents
and funnel them into one area of interest, biology
and cancer research, which I hope to study in college.
The egg-shaped philosophy has made me confident
with what I want to study and with its grounding in
everything else I do.
What I want to leave with you is the ovoid philosophy. I’m not saying not to be well rounded. In
fact, I would urge you to go out and try new things.
Test out everything you can, because you never know
when someday your choir singing voice or your
advanced calculus will help you achieve your central
interest. Go try new things and search for something
that you truly enjoy and then focus on it and achieve
greatness. Recognize that everything you do is connected, like pieces of a shell, and they all define you.
Being well rounded is important, but you should
have one defining characteristic, one interest that you
focus on. Use your shell and everything you’ve
learned to focus on something you love and you will
accomplish more than you would have if you tried to
scramble yourself across many things.
Ch ad L a rco m ’11 of Middletown, R.I., is the sports
editor of the Red & White, was the captain of the
varsity cross-country team, and enjoys playing trumpet in the Brass Players and Jazz Ensemble. He
founded the Middletown Pan-Massachusetts Challenge Kids Ride and is coordinating the third annual
ride this coming spring. Chad wants to go to college
for pre-med, and he can be reached at Chad_Larcom@stgeorges.edu.

S T. G E O R G E ’ S 2 0 1 1 W I N T E R B U L L E T I N

27

Different Takes
C

H A P E L

T

A L K S

PHOTO COURTESY OF

ABI MOATZ ’11

Finding
‘home’ in an
unfamiliar
place
BY ABI MOATZ ’11
Following is a chapel talk delivered Oct. 7, 2010.

D

Abi Moatz ’11
surveys a school in
Fungurume, DRC,
that her father’s
company was
rebuilding. “I helped
with painting,” she
said. “This was
one of the old
classrooms, before
the remodel. This
particular classroom
fit around 50 students. The students
had to bring their
own chairs (the
cinderblocks on
the ground).”

28

o you know that feeling when someone asks
you a question you don’t quite know the
answer to? Often you let out a nervous
giggle, and look around hoping someone else can
jump in and save you. The question that always makes
me feel out of place is, “So, where are you from?”
I know, what a weird question to get nervous
about, but when you really think about it, what does
this mean? Where is your home? Or, what is your
home? All the time around here people say, “I am just
going home for the weekend” or “Ughh, I really wish
I was home right now.” These little comments always
make me think. Does home mean where I was born?
The area where I grew up? The place my parents live?
Or the place where all of my personal belongings are?
I was born in Sun Valley, Idaho, where my freespirited parents lived for 11 years before I was born.
They were free-spirited enough to seriously consider
naming my sister Rainnebeau Trout. They resided in
a very secluded area right off the Salmon River. I lived
there for a very short time before we decided to pick
up and move. We moved from Idaho when I was only
one, so I could not possibly call that home, right?
Fresh from the middle of nowhere, my family
moved to a typical suburban neighborhood just
outside of Denver, Colo. To say the least, I absolutely
loved Colorado. The people are calm, love nature,
and always seem to have a knack for hospitality.
There is great skiing less than two hours away, and I
was actually excited to get up and go to school every

S T. G E O R G E ’ S 2 0 1 1 W I N T E R B U L L E T I N

day. All of my friends had siblings two years older and
were exactly my sister Hillary’s age. Every weekend all
of the kids would play “night games,” like Capture the
Flag, in the green belt in our neighborhood. My sister
and her friends would be on one side of the creek,
and my friends and I would be on the other. Yes, the
older kids always won, and yes, at least one of the
younger siblings would be pushed into the creek
every game. In Colorado, I was always able to be
outside, I had a really close group of friends, and
their parents could just as well have been my parents.
So I could call that home, right?
After going from pre-school, to elementary
school, and to middle school fairly close to home, I
was more than ready for high school. At this point in
my life I honestly thought Colorado was my home,
and I would continue to call it that until I moved
away for college. However, what I most certainly
wasn’t ready for was to start a brand new high school
with kids I had never met before. Because of my dad’s
job, our family was picking up and moving to Cave
Creek, Ariz. Hillary was at school at St. George’s, and
as for me, I hadn’t really been accepted yet. So I
started freshman year of high school at Cactus Shadows High. I was very bitter about moving from Colorado, and wasn’t pleased with the thought of living
in Arizona. I would always say, “Mom, this is a retirement community, I’m not really thrilled about being
here.” The people didn’t seem as friendly, but maybe
they just weren’t as “granola.” I couldn’t ski every
weekend—but then that would just be me being
selfish. Even though I was bitter about moving, I had

Ab i Mo a tz ’11 is a dorm prefect in Zane and played
on the varsity field hockey team last fall. Her family
has now returned to the United States. She can be
reached at Abi_Moatz@stgeorges.edu.

ABI MOATZ ’11

and mostly way too much to compare it to.
These experiences have given a whole new
meaning to the word “home” for me. Home needs to
be somewhere you feel happy, comfortable and safe.
The big move to Africa made me seriously realize
home is more of an idea and a feeling than an
address. Was I selfish to feel that I wasn’t at “home”
in the States, when I was safe and I always have
family nearby? Maybe, but perhaps it’s only human
to feel lost when there isn’t something solid to rely
on. Now, I am not saying that whenever I am happy
I think, “Ooooh, so this is my home.” No. Home
doesn’t need to have a roof, a backyard, or an
address, but it needs to give the feeling of contentment, safety and happiness.
Therefore, it’s only appropriate that I am not even
capable of articulating a concrete definition of what
“home” means to me. A place where safety embeds
itself into the earth, which then lets me exceed my
personal boundaries. What exactly are those boundaries, or do they even exist at all? Despite my difficulty
verbalizing what my home is, I’ve come to understand
what all of these various moves have allowed me to
feel: comfort in places of unfamiliarity. Restrictions
now prove inexistent, in the sense that I’m consistently doing various things on my own. Not for enjoyment really, but simply because it was what was
necessary. Perhaps I had to grow up and mature faster
than anyone should have to. However, these experiences have transformed me into who I am today.
Although I’m not sure who exactly
that is yet, I’ve come to understand
that only through experience will my
true character take form.
In the words of Bob Dylan, “The
Ballad in Plain D”: “How good, how
good does it feel to be free? And I
answer them most mysteriously. Are
the birds free from the chains of the
skyway?”

PHOTO COURTESY OF

lots of friends at school, and, even though it took me
a while, I began to see the odd beauty of the desert. I
was reluctant about calling Arizona my home,
though, because my heart was still in Colorado.
I don’t know exactly what made me do it, but
after one year of Cactus Shadows I decided to reapply
to St. George’s and pray that this time I was accepted.
I repeated my freshman year here and became very
comfortable with my friends, my teachers, and of
course the dorms. Arizona now seemed too far away
to be called home, and I had lost touch with most of
my friends there anyways. Every open weekend everyone was able to go home, and it made me feel lost.
Spending weekends alone in my room or alone in the
upstairs of my grandparents’ house I really began to
wonder, “Where exactly is my home?”
I would sit in my room, almost numb, thinking
about how I wished to lie in my own bed and to sit in
the sunshine in my own backyard, but I couldn’t even
do that for a long weekend. Everybody says, “My
home can be your home,” and while this is wonderful
and I appreciate it, how uncomfortable would it be if
you walked downstairs and you saw me eating your
cereal and petting your dog? Really uncomfortable.
Between my sophomore and junior year, my
family packed up our house in Arizona and put everything in storage. My dad’s job was moving us to the
Democratic Republic of the Congo. You might recognize this country from the Invisible Children video we
saw yesterday. To get to my house in Africa it takes me
approximately 48 hours. That’s five planes rides and
several very surreal car rides. The moment I first
landed in the DRC I walked off the small rickety plane,
and 30 feet from me an Army painted UN plane
landed on the tarmac. Without time to take it all in, I
was herded forward, past a group of Congolese police
sitting in the bed of a truck holding AK-47s. I subtly
looked around—and to my surprise nobody else
found this out of the ordinary. My new “home” felt
more like I was picked up, spun around, and placed in
some sort of documentary. The airport has just two
small rooms, one for native Congolese people, and the
other for business people. The more and more I
looked around, the more out of place I felt. There was
too much to look at, too much to try to comprehend,

Following is a reprint of a chapel talk delivered on
Sept. 21, 2010. This version corrects information in
the author’s biography printed in the Notes from the
Hilltop.

I
Sam Peterson ’11
warms up before a
match in the Hoopes
Squash Center.

30

want you all to take a moment to close your
eyes and think. Think about two people in the
St. George’s community. The first person is
someone you don’t particularly like. The second is
someone who doesn’t like you. It is only human
nature not to get along with everyone. I am not up
here today to preach to you about all being friends
and holding hands around a bonfire. I just want to
talk about the power and importance of a second
chance and not judging someone too quickly. People

S T. G E O R G E ’ S 2 0 1 1 W I N T E R B U L L E T I N

often say you only get one chance to make a first
impression. Well yes, that’s true. But how well can
you judge someone’s character from a single
moment? I would argue that how you carry yourself
after making a bad impression or after making a
mistake is a true test of character. It is easy to be
confident and comfortable when everything is going
your way. It’s a different story when things aren’t.
In a small community like St. George’s, sometimes a second chance is all it takes to form a great
friendship. St. George’s is a place that is intended to
help us grow and mature so that hopefully by the
time we leave the Hilltop on Prize Day we have the
confidence and tools for success. With growth come
many challenges and mistakes. I have learned more

from my mistakes here than I have from all of my
successes combined.
Many of you know I spent the spring semester
last year away in Colorado. I arrived in Colorado
pretty nervous and anxious to make new friends.
Most of the kids were great, but one kid annoyed me
a lot. His name was Max and he was from North
Carolina. To me he came across as rude, sarcastic
and just disrespectful to people in general. I’m
telling you this because now Max is one of my best
friends. Max told us after we returned from Spring
Break that he was committed to changing. He had
realized how rude he had been and wanted a fresh
start. So as a group we decided to give him a second
chance and with that he thrived.
Judging anyone before you really know him or
her is always dangerous but it is so easy to see someone walk into King Hall and instantly comment on
how weird they seem or how ugly their dress is. We
too often try to box people in, in order to classify
them or to understand them. However, life and
someone’s personality and character cannot be
simplified into a simple derogatory phrase or hurtful comment. Everyone in this chapel has more to
contribute to this school than that, and you shouldn’t limit yourself by not giving people a chance to
show you who they really are. If you were in their
position you would want the same chance given to
you. As I think of my time at St. George’s I have
experienced both ends of the spectrum. I have given
second chances and I have received them. I have
been judged too quickly and I have judged too
quickly myself.
Everyone in our community should have a
chance to show who they are. When I arrived it was
often, “It’s Mr. Peterson’s son”, or “Yeah, that’s the
head’s kid,” this is but a small piece of who I am.
Those of you who share in the joy of being a fac brat
or who have older siblings who have walked these
halls before understand what it means to be defined
by someone who isn’t you.

Whether you are a new student who has only
been here a week or you are a fellow sixth former
preparing for the final haul to Prize Day, there is
something you can take away from this talk. To the
new students: Be careful. Don’t judge too quickly.
You’ve only been here a week. It is but a small piece
of what your experience will be. Looking back on
the first few weeks of freshman year I couldn’t honestly tell you who I was with or what I was doing.
That isn’t to say these days aren’t important for you.
It’s all very new, fun and exciting; it just isn’t the
end-all of your experience. Also, give yourself a
second chance. You will make mistakes during your
time here; it is only natural. What you do after these
mistakes is how people will come to remember you.
Your friendships and who are you will continue to
change over your remaining time here.
Seniors, looking back, do you remember what
we were like initially? So much has changed since
then and so have many people in our grade. Be
careful as you begin your final year here not to
carry with you judgments from the fall of 2007 or
even the spring of 2010. Give someone a blank
slate. Let them prove themselves to you. It is our
last year here and we will all miss it more than we
know. We are no longer the scared 13- and 14-yearolds who arrived here some years ago. We have
grown up together as a class and because of that we
all share something special. We all know what it
takes to succeed here. We all know how hard it can
be. As you look yourself in the mirror on that last
Monday in May, will you be able to say you have
done all that I can to make my experience and the
people around me all that it can be? I would expect
nothing less.
Sa m Pe te r son ’11 is a member of the school’s
Honor Board, a chapel prefect and captain of
the varsity squash team. He will be attending
Hobart College in the fall and can be reached at
Sam_Peterson@stgeorges.edu.

S T. G E O R G E ’ S 2 0 1 1 W I N T E R B U L L E T I N

31

Highlights

T U D E N T

A C H I E V E M E N T S

PHOTO COURTESY OF L INNIE

GUMMO ’11

S

MISSION

accomplished

Linnie Gummo ’11
at the Rift Valley
Children’s Village in
Tanzania, Africa.

32

Thanks to vigorous sales of a self-produced CD
featuring original and cover songs performed by SG
musicians and vocalists, Linnie Gummo ’11 has
achieved her goal: to help provide a dining place for a
special group of underprivileged children in Africa.
With the goal of raising $10,000 for The Tanzanian Children’s Fund to support The Rift Valley Children’s Village, Gummo last year convinced a number
of musically talented students to record performances for the CD, titled “Kushirikiana Dunia Moja:
Sharing One World.”
Hundreds purchased the CD, which is still being
sold in the SG Bookstore and on iTunes for $11.99.

S T. G E O R G E ’ S 2 0 1 1 W I N T E R B U L L E T I N

Proceeds from the project will be used to build
an open-air dining room for the children of the
village, many of whom have lost parents to illness or
poverty. The dining room will be called the St.
George’s Café, a project estimated to cost approximately $10,000.
Along with the CD, Linnie also organized a
dress-down day, and several donors came forward
with extra donations to help the cause.
By January, proceeds totaling $11,068.41 were
ready to send to the Tanzania Children’s Fund. All
future proceeds will be sent to the orphanage as well.
For Gummo, the project was highly personal.
Her relationship with the children at Rift Valley
began when she first visited the orphanage with a
friend and her mother in 2009. Rift Valley is operated
by Executive Director India Howell, a friend of Linnie’s mom, Marci.
When Gummo went back to the orphanage a
second time, in 2010, she brought her guitar.
“You can’t get it away from me; it’s my third
arm,” she said. What she hadn’t anticipated, though,
was the reaction of the children. They were so drawn
to the music, they would gather around Linnie,
touching the strings as she played, and begging her to
play more.
That’s when the idea set in to write a song about
them and put together an entire CD devoted to raising money to improve their lives. When Linnie witnessed the children eating lunch on the dirt floor at
school, the idea for the dining room was born.
On the CD, Gummo performs a song with M ag da le na Fr an z-So el n ’11, called “Serengeti,” inspired
by her experiences with the children. The CD also
features “Blackbird,” by M iri am E l haj li and Se ba stia n B ie rma n-Lyt le ’11; “Man in the Mirror,” by B ric e
B erg ’12, Da vi d Ke ho e ’13, O k sa na Nag o rnuk a ’10
and Ni c o De Lu ca -Ver ley ’13; “I’ll Stand by You,” by
V ic to ri a Le o na rd ’11, Linnie and La n ey Yan g ’10;
“Makes My Life,” by Linnie and Taylo r R isl ey ’11;
“Imagine,” by Ta rle to n Wa tki ns ’11, H en drik K its
va n H eyni nge n ’10 and N ic o De Lu ca -Ve rley ’13;
“His Eye is on the Sparrow,” by L’Or ea l La mpl ey ’11
and L ara Mc Le o d ’10; “Compline D’un Autre Ete:
L’apres-midi” by So phi e Flyn n ’11, E mi ly Lew is ’12

and H e ndri k K it s van He ynin ge n ’10; as well as “I
Can See Clearly Now,” by the female a cappella group
the Snapdragons and “Amazing Grace,” by the St.
George’s Chapel Choir.
Recruiting and organizing the host of students to
sing and play for a CD was one thing, but Gummo
also had to arrange recording studio time at a studio
in Pawtucket, R.I., and oversee the production of
artwork for the cover, by L au ren Hi lto n ’10—and she
drove to visit Grammy-Award-winning producer
Nile Rodgers and convinced him to record an introduction for the CD.
At the center of it all were Gummo’s memories of
the children and their determined spirit to prosper
despite their circumstances.
“Overall they’re very happy kids when they come
to the orphanage. They learn to be happy with limited things,” she said. “You know, here in the United
States if kids have a soccer ball that’s broken, they
throw it away. These kids will kick it around anyway.”
In June, Linnie will go back to Tanzania for the
third time, now being able to make her dining room
dream a reality. And Rift Valley will always be a part
of her life. “Oh, yes,” she said. “I’m always going to be
back there.”
Cha d La rc o m ’11 was recently voted a finalist in
competition for one of the country’s most coveted
merit-based college scholarships: the Morehead-Cain
offered by the University of North Carolina.
The Scholarship committee notes four areas of
accomplishment they evaluate: moral force of character, scholarship, physical vigor and leadership.
Larcom, who intends to pursue a program in
pre-med, has impressed the selection committee so
far with a vibrant academic and extra-curricular high
school program. Along with serving as the sports
editor of the student newspaper, Larcom was the
captain of last fall’s varsity cross-country team, and
an accomplished trumpet player in the Brass Players
and Jazz Ensemble. Inspired by his mother’s successful battle with cancer, he founded the Middletown
Pan-Massachusetts Challenge Kids Ride three years
ago. The third annual ride will be held this spring.
At press time, Larcom was getting ready to head

to the Morehead-Cain Final Selection
Weekend in Chapel Hill, N.C., being
held Feb. 26-March 1, 2011. The Class
of 2015 scholars will be notified on
March 3.
A number of students have
pitched in this year to help continue a
composting program organized by the
Sustainability Club. S a di e M c Q ui lk i n ’12, C ha rl o tt e
vo n M e is te r ’12, Se to n Ta l ty ’11, A li Ba l la t o ’12,
I sa b el le D ove ’11, P a u li na Go d z ’11, A le x E l ro n ’12
and Al e x Wi lst e rma n ’11 have been among the
students helping out by devoting time each day to
working in King Hall. Biology and Environmental
Science teacher H e a th Ca p el lo, the school’s sustainability coordinator, said the group, along with faculty members Ste ve L e sl ie and P a t ri c ia L ot h ro p, has
been composting 2-6 five-gallon barrels of vegetable
scraps per day. The compost will be used to help
fertilize the soil in gardens around campus.

Pepper Nagle ’14

Margaret
Schroeder ’14

Chad Larcom ’11

Three third formers have been
elected by their peers to help the
class have their voice heard in
student government issues. Pepper
Nagle ’14, Margaret Schroeder ’14
and Lu c Woo da rd ’14 were named
Third-Form Student Council
representatives in February. They’ll
join representatives from the other
forms in a group chaired by Senior
Prefect H ill ar y Wei n ’11 during
weekly meetings. The Student
Council discusses, proposes and
votes on issues relating to school
policy including discipline, athletics, and the spiritual, academic and
social lives of the student body.
In February, Jo hn ny K im ’14
was elected by his peers to be the
Third-Form Honor Board representative. The Honor Board,

Luc Woodard ’14

Continued on page 34

S T. G E O R G E ’ S 2 0 1 1 W I N T E R B U L L E T I N

33

Highlights
S

T U D E N T

A C H I E V E M E N T S

PHOTO BY

R ACHEL R AMOS

Continued from page 33

Phongpol "Up" Punyagupta ’13 (second from left) and Morgan Buffum ’13
(second from right) had the chance to hear a presentation in January by the
divers who discovered the remains of the USS Revenge, a ship commanded by
U.S. Navy hero Oliver Hazard Perry and wrecked off Watch Hill, R.I., in
1811. The divers, Craig Harger (left) and Charles Buffum, Morgan's uncle
and the brother of James Buffum ’78, told the Associated Press that they
made their first discovery in August 2005, "and kept it secret as they continued to explore the area and make additional discoveries. Since then, they
have found four more 42-inch-long cannons, an anchor, canister shot, and
other metal objects that they say they’re 99 percent sure were from the
Revenge."

34

S T. G E O R G E ’ S 2 0 1 1 W I N T E R B U L L E T I N

PHOTO COURTESY OF J EN

TULEJA

PHOTO BY DEEDEE BUFFUM

Four students excelled in the All-School Debate competition Nov. 16, making it to
the finals: Luc Woodard ’14, Grace Alzaibak ’12, Jack Barthelot ’12 and Jack
Coaty ’13. Alzaibak and Coaty emerged as the winners in the final.

which issues recommendations to the Head of School
in most student discipline cases, was formed last
spring as a way to reduce the
often-overwhelming duties that
had previously been placed on
the School Prefects. The prefects
continue to lead Student Council
initiatives, bring student concerns and input to the adminisJohnny Kim ’14
tration, and organize student
bonding and school spirit activities. Honor Board members are selected by students
and approved by faculty members based on their
own attention to issues of ethical leadership.

Math teacher and track coach Warren Williams,
Allie Fuller ’14, Brittney Corso ’11 and Director
of Library Services Jen Tuleja ran in the 10K
Jingle Bell Run in Newport in December to raise
money for SOLA (the School of Leadership,
Afghanistan). It was the first road race ever for
each of the girls and all four runners came in
under one hour. SOLA’s mission is to prepare
“the very best Afghan students for study in the
U.S. and abroad so that they can return home to
become the future leaders of Afghanistan.”

PATRICK HOLOWESKO ’11
PHOTO BY

PHOTO BY

SCOTT YANG ’11

Student sees business
opportunity in
boyhood hobby
BY SUZANNE MCGRADY

There’s a story behind
this photo of St. George’s.
Can you imagine where
it was taken from?
OK, that’s not fair if you don’t know
Patrick Holowesko ’11. An ingenious student
looking to make a little extra money last
summer, Holowesko
has a bit of notoriety
here on the Hilltop:
He recently turned a
boyhood hobby into
an idea for a start-up
Patrick Holowesko ’11 business. And well,
let’s simply say, it’s just getting off the ground.
But-ump-bump.
You see Holowesko ’11, who grew up in
Nassau, Bahamas, has been flying radio-controlled aircraft since he was 5 years old. These
days, Holowesko’s got about 25 planes back

home (though he told a student reporter last
spring that in the last 10 years he has crashed
another 25-30 planes.) And these aren’t inexpensive toys.
Actually, Holowesko’s “toy” aircraft aren’t
really toys at all. An expert on aerospace engineering recently called the technologies in today’s radio-controlled vehicles “remarkable”
in Air & Space magazine, citing the toys’ more
efficient motors and lighter batteries. And
Holowesko’s taking full advantage of the new
improvements. He used them to create a ‘super-helicopter’/modern helicopter and found
it was a great way to hoist a camera. So last
summer he came up with the idea to attach a
Nikon to his heli and start an aerial photography business. Since he managed to get it up
and running only a week before school, he
never had time to utilize it, besides taking
photos of his own house, he said.
“But I wanted to bring (my helicopter) to
school to potentially work with local real estate agents and take photos of local real estate
and houses for sale,” said Holowesko, who

along with his clothes and books, lugged the
rig back to school in September.
His first photography test flight on the
Hilltop came over Columbus Day Weekend in
October. Most students had gone home for the
weekend, but Holowesko and a friend were on
campus, so he says, he decided to try it out
around here. “Using the helicopter’s GPS hold
feature, to essentially ‘lock’ it in place where I
wanted it gave me the freedom to pivot the helicopter and adjust zoom, tilt and shutter of the
camera, while the helicopter flew itself,” Holowesko explained. He says he got off about 20
shots that day, though the windy conditions made
about half come out blurry “due to the wind
speeds increasing in relationship to the height.”
Of course Holowesko knows he can’t invade SG air space whenever he wants: the vehicles can be disruptive to quiet study, not to
mention distracting to nearby passersby who
might not expect to see (and hear) an R-C
helicopter zooming over North Field.
For now, Holowesko’s future business
activities are … in a holding pattern.

S T. G E O R G E ’ S 2 0 1 1 W I N T E R B U L L E T I N

35

Highlights
S

T U D E N T

A C H I E V E M E N T S

College Acceptances
(as of Feb. 10)
73 members of the Class of 2011 have received a total of 126 early acceptances from
the following 67 colleges and universities
Babson College
Baylor University
Bentley University
Boston College
Brown University
Chapman University
College of Charleston
College of the Holy Cross
Colorado College
Connecticut College
Dartmouth College
Davidson College
Dickinson College
Eckerd College
Elon University
Fairfield University
Franklin and Marshall College
George Washington University
Georgetown University
High Point University
Hobart and William Smith Colleges
Ithaca College
Johns Hopkins University

Kenyon College

Stonehill College

King's University College

Suffolk University

Lake Forest College

Temple University

Lehigh University

The College of Wooster

Lewis & Clark College

Tulane University

Montana State University, Bozeman

University of Alabama

New York University

University of Connecticut

Northeastern University

University of Denver

Northern Arizona University

University of Edinburgh

Ohio Wesleyan University

University of New Hampshire

Philadelphia University

University of New Haven

Providence College

University of Mississippi

Rhodes College

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Rutgers University

University of Rhode Island

Saint Anselm College

University of San Francisco

Savannah College of Art & Design

University of St. Andrews

Santa Clara University

University of Vermont

School of the Art Institute of Chicago

University of Wisconsin, Madison

Sewanee: The University of the South

Vassar College

Southern Methodist University

Wake Forest University

St. John's College

Washington and Jefferson College

Stanford University

Wentworth Institute of Technology

29 of those students are now settled and plan to enroll at the following institutions:
Saint Anselm College

Babson College

George Washington University

Brown University (2)

Georgetown University

Stanford University

Colorado College

Hobart & William Smith Colleges (2)

University of Rhode Island

College of the Holly Cross

Johns Hopkins University

University of St. Andrews
University of Vermont

Connecticut College

Kenyon College

Dartmouth College (3)

Lehigh University (2)

Vassar College

Davidson College

New York University

Wake Forest University (2)

Franklin and Marshall College

Rollins College

College decisions will continue to come in through the regular round in April

Academic Honors for First Semester 2010-11
Head of School Commendation for Academic Excellence
The Head of School Commendation for Academic Excellence is St. George’s highest bi-annual honor.
These students received no grade below an A- during the 2010-11 first semester:
Sebastian Alexander Bierman-Lytle
Emily Derecktor
Bethany Lynn Fowler
Polina Victorivna Godz
Olivia Louise Hoeft

Right: Members of
Gary Cornog’s English class, “Novels
and Tales of the
Sea,” visited the New
Bedford Whaling
Museum in November, where they had
a special visit from
John Bockstoce,
author of “Whales,
Ice and Men,” and
“Furs and Frontiers
in the Far North:
The Contest Among
Native and Foreign
Nations for the
Bering Strait Fur
Trade”.

aptain M ike D awso n and student crew members set sail Jan. 30 for the Winter 2011
Geronimo voyage after the boat underwent
her Winter Yard period at Rybovich Shipyard and
Marina in West Palm Beach.
The Fall Geronimo trip ended Nov. 18, 2010, when
the boat arrived in Harbour Island after a nice sail
north from the Exumas, according to Program Director Deborah Hayes.
“The crew [captained by Dawson] had a chance to
do a “Buoy Chase” in which the students retrieve a
buoy that has been thrown over the side. By handling
Geronimo under sail, the students get to practice their
boat-handling skills as well as their teamwork and
leadership skills,” she said.
“They were able to get in some very successful
turtle sampling in the waters surrounding North
Eleuthera before finishing the program,” she added.
“The last day on board was spent giving Geronimo a
thorough cleaning followed by festivities that gave the
students a last chance to be together as crew before
they all flew home for Thanksgiving holiday.”
The professional crew on the Winter Voyage will
include First Mate K are n M ac Do na ld and Second

PHOTO COURTESY OF

N

C APT. MIKE DAWSON
PHOTO COURTESY OF

Summer Geronimo program of fered for new students
New Dragons will have the chance to get to
know a few classmates even before the school year
begins when a first-time Geronimo program begins
this summer.
Designed by Geronimo captain and program
director Deb or ah H aye s, the “Sea Legs” initiative
will allow incoming new students to get to know a
bit of SG culture prior to the start of school by
embarking on one of two possible seven-day
adventure cruises aboard the school’s 69-foot sail
training vessel.
The dates for the new “pre-orientation” cruises
are July 18-25, when the boat will sail from Portland
to Rockland, Maine; and July 29-Aug. 6, when the
boat will sail back to Portland from Rockland. If
needed, a third trip will be added Aug. 10-17 and
students will sail the boat back to Newport from
Maine.
“The biggest goal is to provide a platform for
new students to meet and interact before arriving
on campus,” Hayes said.
Working with Hayes, Director of Admission
Jim H a mil to n said he hopes the new program will
also allow incoming students to connect with a
faculty member before arriving at school and to
develop community and social skills through
living and working together on the boat.

“It will allow them to have an experiential
learning opportunity,” Hamilton said, “and a head
start on getting to know some kids who will be
going to school with them in the fall.”

Daily shipboard activities, such as sail setting,
cooking and navigation, also will help students
build leadership skills and confidence. Off the
boat, students will explore the islands in Casco and
Penobscot bays in a number of hiking trips.
And the program might even heighten students’ interest in applying to one of the existing
seven-week-long academic-based Geronimo
cruises offered during their school years. “They’ll
get terrific insight into the Geronimo program,”
Hamilton said, “and they might feel it will be the
right thing to add to their curriculum.”

John Harris ’13
keeps an eye on the
mainsheet while
tacking.

S T. G E O R G E ’ S 2 0 1 1 W I N T E R B U L L E T I N

43

On board
E W S

F R O M

G

E R O N I M O

Carol Hamblet visiting SG
for the stone dedication at
Convocation is here with
Evelyn Maldonado ’11.

“A V isit from Mr s. Hamblet”
Editor’s note: The fall crew of Geronimo hosted Carol Hamblet,
coordinator of student health services, emerita, and wife of the late
Headmaster Chuck Hamblet, on board last fall. Mrs. Hamblet retired from St. George’s in 2004 after serving the school loyally and
passionately for 15 years.
While on our way down the Florida coast, we stopped at
Fernandina Beach and took a road trip to the Archie Carr
Center for Sea Turtle Research at the University of Florida, the
organization that uses the data Geronimo collects. We met a
few of the scientists, whom Michelle tried to win over with a
couple of turtle-related jokes. We also met a group of their
graduate students. After listening to a brief presentation about
the importance of their research and about sea turtles in general, we were able to ask questions and truly get an idea of
what our work in the Bahamas will be like. It only took a few
pictures of green turtles and some free chocolate to get our
whole crew fidgeting with excitement and anticipation.
Even though we felt ready to get under way at that

44

S T. G E O R G E ’ S 2 0 1 1 W I N T E R B U L L E T I N

PHOTO COURTESY OF

N

moment, there was one more night to spend at the marina
in Fernandina. We got to spend it with a guest. Mrs. Carol
Hamblet happens to live in the area and we invited her to
have dinner with us onboard Geronimo. It was exciting to
talk about our trip with the woman who had such a connection to the school and to Geronimo. She told us about her
experiences at Exeter and St. George’s, including a few stories
about Mr. Weston when he was as young as 14. She left us in
good spirits and with a healthy amount of baked goods to save
for watch snacks. We are well prepared to start the last stretch
of our journey.
—Bethany Fowler ’13

Arts

R E A T I V I T Y

O N

T H E

H

I L L T O P

PHOTOS BY

R ACHEL R AMOS

C

Leave it to the Art Department to teach the rest
of us how to be creative when your workspace is
altered during a construction project.
Since September, the department has been getting along without use of the Hunter Gallery, which
is being used temporarily for books and study space
while the Hill Library undergoes a large-scale renovation project.
So, in an effort to keep the studio arts front and
center in the community, art teacher L isa Ha ns el has
organized a series of artists’ workshops and exhibitions in the lower level of the Drury/Grosvenor Art
Center. The events have gotten rave reviews from
participants and exhibit guests. Featuring local artists
working in various media, the workshops have been
offered on Sundays throughout the year and have
allowed both art enthusiasts and novices alike to
learn more about the process of creating art. Guest
artists have included Cameron Cluff ’s mom, K are n
Ro a rke P’14, a painter who offered “Exploring Transparency: Acrylic Painting and Glazing Techniques;”
art teacher and local artisan Te d Stu r teva nt ’96, who
taught the workshop, “Casting Plastic Objects: Mold
Making and Casting Techniques;” Rachel Asbel’s
mom, Ho l ly Gros ve no r ’75, P’11, whose class was
titled “Painting Architecture: Water Color

Techniques to Describe Architecture;” and community member A ni a
Wo ish ek, wife of art teacher R ay
Wo ish ek ’89, whose upcoming workshop will be called “Visual Simplicity
in Painting: Experimentation with
Collage, Composition and Color.”
As with the previous Hunter
Gallery exhibits, student musicians
are also taking part in artist’s reception night festivities.
For the Roarke reception,
Joo a nna Xu ’13 and R ac he l Su ng ’12
played a piano and flute sonata by
J. S. Bach.
A painting by Cl ai re Ch al ifo ur ’12, along with a
mural she co-produced with friends, has been getting
some much-deserved attention in Jamaica.
Her painting titled “The Painter’s Path” won a
silver medal in the annual national Jamaica Cultural
Development Commission art competition and was on
display last summer in the Jamaica National Gallery.
The work also inspired another effort. Claire and
friends, with the help of Fiona Godfrey, a wellContinued on page 47

Above: Claire
Chalifour ’12 with
friends and family—
Bianca Lalor, Rebecca
Chong, her mother
Michele Chalifour,
and Raquel Gordon—
work on a mural to
honor Stephanie
Crispinelli, a student
from Lynn University
who died in the January 2010 earthquake
in Haiti.
Right: The mural on
display at a school
in Race Course,
Clarendon.

46

S T. G E O R G E ’ S 2 0 1 1 W I N T E R B U L L E T I N

R ACHEL R AMOS
PHOTOS BY

Continued from page 45

known artist, painted a mural inspired by Claire’s
painting to honor Stephanie Crispinelli, a student
from Lynn University who died in the January 2010
earthquake in Haiti. Stephanie’s great-grandfather,
grandfather and great-uncle all attended St. George’s.
Crispinelli’s family was in Jamaica on a mission
with Food For The Poor building a school in Race
Course, Clarendon, for 150 students. The mural,
called “Stephanie’s Path” is now hanging on the outside of the school.

“Soda Bottle,” a photograph by O o na Pri tc ha rd
’13 is featured on the January cover of Newport Life
magazine. The photo was an entry in the magazine’s
4th annual Reader Photo Challenge. Pritchard took
the photo as part of Kathryn Lemay’s “Visual Foundation” class last year as a way to look for texture
for a subsequent charcoal drawing. A photo contest
judge said there was “an excellent mix of lines,
pattern and texture in this tightly composed
abstract image.”

Congratulations to the members of the girls’
varsity basketball team, who prevailed in three competitive games to walk away champions of the first
annual 2010 St. George’s Girls’ Basketball Holiday
Classic. In the opening round of the tourney on
Friday, Dec. 17, the SG girls pulled out a 44-36 victory against St. Mark’s, before they played crossisland rival Portsmouth Abbey later in the day.
“Eight returning St. George’s players remembered
the emotional one-point overtime loss to the Ravens
last February,” said Head Coach Ju li e Bu tl e r. Subsequently, the girls played their best game of the 20102011 season, she added, winning by a convincing
55-23 score in the second round of the tourney. On
Saturday, the players picked up where they left off on

S T. G E O R G E ’ S 2 0 1 1 W I N T E R B U L L E T I N

Friday night, Coach Butler said, and a strong defense
was key. “When 5-foot-10-inch Canterbury guard
Krista O’Gara, who poured in a tournament high 37
points in Friday night’s second-round game against
St. Mark’s, hit the first bucket of the game, it looked
like she was off to another big outing. But senior cocaptains K el ly Mi ll e r (Atlanta, Ga.) and M a r y
O ’Co n no r (Middletown, R.I.) shared her defensive
assignment in the first half, keeping her scoreless for
the remaining 15 minutes of play. Unselfish team
passing led to a balanced SG scoring attack. This,
coupled with a strong team defensive effort sent the
Dragons into the half with a convincing 30-5 score.
SG was prepared for O’Gara to have a breakout
second half, but sophomore S ha n no n Le o n ar d (East
Greenwich, R.I.) picked up where Miller and
O’Connor left off, holding the junior from New
Fairfield, Conn., to two second-half field goals.
Sophomores Je ss H o m (Holmdel, N.J.), T h er e sa
Sa l ud (Morganville, N.J.), and Leonard combined
for 31 points. O o n a Pr it c ha r d (Middletown, R.I.),
Jo y Bu l lo c k (Middletown, R.I.), and Ver o ni c a Sc o tt
(Plymouth, N.H.) gave their usual consistent play off
the bench. Sophomore Ke mi R ic h a rd so n (Chestnut
Hill, Mass.) and freshman M e gg ie O ’C on n or
(Middletown, R.I.) also contributed to the Lady
Dragons’ victory.”

R ACHEL R AMOS

Continued on page 51

WALKER PHOTOGRAPHY

Two St. George’s graduates were among 19 outstanding scholar athletes recognized last fall by the
Inter-Collegiate Sailing Association (ICSA).
In October, the ICSA named its 2010 ICSA All

Above: SG varsity
swim team members
Michael McGinnis
’13, Emil Henry ’11
and Patrick
Holowesko ’11 cheer
on swimmers from
the Perkins School
for the Blind during
a swim event in
December.

PHOTO BY LOUIS

PHOTO BY

Mike Ca sey ’11, along with field hockey player
Ve ro ni ca Sc o tt ’12, cross-country standout E va n
Re a d ’11, and football players Drew Boyd ’12 and
Ch ris Ch ew ’11 were named 2010 Providence Journal
Independent Stars in December for their play during
the fall season.
Scott was named to the Independent School
League all-star team for her outstanding all-around
play.
Boyd, a 6-1, 230-pound offensive lineman and
linebacker, earned first-team All-ISL honors and AllNew England selection after leading the team in
tackles with 84 stops.
Chew was the winner of SG’s Thayer Cup for the
team MVP. The 5-8, 205-pound running back, defensive lineman and kicker also earned All-ISL honors.
And Read earned All-New England Division 3
honors and was an ISL honorable mention selection.

Left: Maddie
Lucas ’11 readies for
a J.V. squash match.

S T. G E O R G E ’ S 2 0 1 1 W I N T E R B U L L E T I N

49

SG Zone
T H L E T I C

D

E P A R T M E N T

N

E W S

BILL R AKIP

PHOTO BY

BILL R AKIP

A

PHOTO BY

Varsity field hockey’s Rosie Putnam ’11 angles for
the ball during a matchup with St. Mark’s.

Chris Chew ’11 carries the ball in a varsity football game
against St. Paul’s.

Academic Sailing Team, an honor that acknowledges
the students’ “success at the highest levels—both on
the water and in the classroom” for academic and
athletic performance during the 2009-2010 academic year.
Jef f rey K now le s of Middletown, R.I., who graduated from Brown University last May with a GPA of
3.76 in neuroscience, was named a member of the
2010 ICSA All Academic Sailing Team – First Team;
and H a nna h B ur rou ghs of Peace Dale, R.I., a senior
at Stanford University studying engineering with a
GPA of 3.75, was named a member of the 2010 ICSA
All Academic Sailing Team – Second Team.
Boys Varsity Squash player Ra hi l Fa ze lb hoy ’13
captured the 5.0 division championship title of the
Rhodysquash RI Open on Sunday, Nov. 21, 2010. The
tournament, which was attended by a number of topranked professionals, was held in the Hoopes Squash
Center at SG over the weekend of Nov. 20-21. In the
final championship match 28-year-old professional
Shaun Delierre of Montreal, ranked No. 74 in the
world, beat tournament favorite No. 35 ranked Julian
Illingworth 11-9, 12-10, 9-11, 12-10 in a hard-fought
97-minute match. As a freshman last year, Fazelbhoy,
of Mumbai, India, finished third at the New England
Class B championships. His regular season play at
first singles along with his tournament performance
made him a first-team All-ISL selection. Girls Varsity

Girls varsity soccer goalie Phoebe Manning ’11
makes another dramatic save in a game against
Pomfret.

It was brief but exciting, according to Varsity Boys
Soccer Coach Jeremy Goldstein, when St. George’s
welcomed the soccer team from a school in Saumu,
France—Institution St. Louis—for a visit to campus on
Sept. 10 and 11. The 15 French teammates were in
America as part of an exchange program and their first
stop was Newport, where they played and won a small
tournament with three U.S. schools. “I appreciate the
entire community being friendly and quickly involving
both players and coaches in our fun activities,” Goldstein wrote to the community. “Our willingness to host
international guests makes SG a special place.” French
Department Chair Allison de Hor sey helped organize
the visit, and a number of host families opened up their
homes to the guests. The French boys went on to spend
some time in New York City and in Massachusetts.

Sports Hall of Fame induction caps
off celebration of high school athletics

O

ne longtime fan and supporter, one veteran
coach and four outstanding former athletes
were inducted into the SG Sports Hall of
Fame on Friday, Nov. 12, 2010.
Entering the Hall were Dr. Robin Wallace, SG’s
school physician and avid follower of SG athletics;
former coach the Rev. John S. Rogers; and star athletes Henr y P. Bristol II ’72, David B. Hennessy ’81,
Melissa Brown Bride ’84, and Jill Doyle Jablonsky ’93.
The ceremony was MC’d by Associate Director of
Admission Ryan Mulhern ’91, a former professional
hockey player and member of the Hall himself.
Mulhern presented each of the entrants with
a framed certificate and read each entrant’s citation, specially prepared by a former player or
close associate.
Marie Dougherty Hinman ’75 wrote the citation

52

S T. G E O R G E ’ S 2 0 1 1 W I N T E R B U L L E T I N

for Wallace’s induction. “Since 1974 [Dr. Wallace] has
been patching our wounds, listening to our conflicts,
prescribing remedies for our ailments, giving counsel
to the administration and cheering on our sports
teams,” she wrote. Wallace, an expert sailing race
organizer renowned in Newport, was also the recipient of the United States Sailing Association’s 2006
Harman Hawkins Trophy “for his race-management
skills, implementation of rules and regulations, equitable judging and fair and impartial appeals resolution.” Wallace remains a member of the school’s
full-time faculty.
1980 alumna Sarah Rogers McMillan penned the
citation for Rogers. “In 1977, [Father John Rogers] set
the tone for his St. George’s coaching career,” she
wrote. “Named the St. George’s Coach of the Year, FaRa led his varsity baseball team to the co-champi-

PHOTO
PHOTO BY
BY A
ANDREA
NDREA H
HANSEN
ANSEN

four-year prep school career,” wrote basketball coach
Julie Butler in her citation for her former two-year
captain. She was “the consummate team player, one
who brought skill, enthusiasm, intensity, determination, and humor each day with her unconquerable
competitive spirit.”
After the inductions, the student body participated in the annual Middlesex Weekend pep rally, ate
zebra cake and burned a specially crafted zebra in a
bonfire on Cliff Field. On Saturday, the teams hosted
Middlesex School squads on the Hilltop.
Veteran sportswriter E.M. Swif t P ’10 was the
featured speaker Thursday, Nov. 11, the day before the
Hall of Fame, for an allschool event in Madeira
Hall.
Swift, a special contributor for Sports Illustrated, where he has been
working since 1978, has
covered 15 Olympic
Games, starting in 1980
when he reported on the
“Miracle On Ice,” the goldmedal winning U.S.
hockey team.
Swift’s talk highlighted those years, and he regaled
the audience with personal reflections of the relationships he made through his work with hockey luminaries like Wayne Gretzky and Bobby Orr. He also read
excerpts from “Sports in a School Curriculum,” an
essay he wrote for the Teacher’s College Record about
the importance of prep-school athletics.

onship of the Southern New England Independent
School Conference. In 1992, Fa-Ra was again named
St. George’s Coach of the Year, and his varsity basketball team’s undefeated record on the road and overall
15-1 season earned him the Independent School
League coach of the year.”
Bristol, Hennessy, Bride and Jablonsky were
praised for their prowess on the playing fields and in
the gymnasium.
As a student, Bristol was a versatile athlete, but in
the winter his success came in the wrestling pit,
where he notched three consecutive New England
championship titles in his final three years on the
team. He came back to the Hilltop to teach math and
photography after graduating from Bowdoin College,
where he served as wrestling team captain in ’75 and
’76 and picked up sailing.
Hennessey played on the varsity football team for
two years and on the varsity hockey and lacrosse
teams for three years at St. George’s. “As a running
back on the varsity football team his senior year, he
recorded a 96-yard run from scrimmage, one of the
longest running plays in St. George’s history, on a
victorious Middlesex weekend,” classmate Christopher L. Brigham ’81wrote in his citation. Hennessey
co-captained the varsity lacrosse team in 1981 and
played the majority of each game switching back and
forth between defense and attack helping to lead the
team to its first-ever Independent School League
(ISL) Championship.
Bride was captain of the field hockey, basketball
and lacrosse teams at SG and won the MVP award in
field hockey and numerous ISL All-League selections.
On Prize Day in 1984, she won the Elliott Cup. “Mel
moved on to Colby College where her athletics were
once again an intricate and valuable part of its
athletic program,” wrote Dolly Howard, director
of girls athletics and dean of day students, emerita,
in Bride’s citation.
Doyle, another Elliott Cup winner, “made an
immediate impact in soccer, basketball, and track,
earning a varsity letter in every season during her

E.M. Swift P’10

S T. G E O R G E ’ S 2 0 1 1 W I N T E R B U L L E T I N

53

Right: Pamela
Layton P’09, ’12
was on campus in
October to deliver
a lecture on stem
cell research.
Far right: John
Visconti was another
speaker in the Science Department’s
Brown Bag Lunch
Series.

54

S T. G E O R G E ’ S 2 0 1 1 W I N T E R B U L L E T I N

In the mid-16th century, some of the most popular books coming off the printing presses were those
that proclaimed to hold remedies or cures for illnesses and troublesome human afflictions. And as Dr. Jo hn V i sc on ti told an
audience gathered for one of the Science
Department’s “Brown Bag Lunches” in
December, these so-call “books of secrets” also represented some of the public’s first experiences with
published science.
Visconti, author of “The Secrets of a 16th century
Venetian Woman: Isabella Cortese and Alchemical
Medicine,” gave a compelling presentation on some of
the first mass-produced instructional science manuals

SUZANNE MCGRADY

Above: Ericka Hines
’89 was the guest
speaker for the
annual Martin
Luther King Jr. Day
Chapel service in
January.

St. George’s graduate Er ic ka H ine s ’89, whose
career now focuses on helping individuals and
socially conscious organizations contribute positively to their communities,
was the guest speaker at the annual
music-filled Martin Luther King Jr.
Chapel service Jan. 17, 2011.
Hines, a former lawyer turned entrepreneur who
started Social Change Diva to promote her message
of empowerment, urged students to “step up their
leadership” and be “agents of greatness.”
“I know service is ingrained in this community,”
she told students, faculty members and staff. “Now
you can think about ways to serve smarter.”
She encouraged students to investigate whether
they might be able to serve more than one social
purpose with their efforts, such as donating clothing as well as sponsoring dress down days to give

money to charities.
She also encouraged the community “to learn
and connect globally, but act locally.”
“Martin Luther King was a social change agent
on a macro scale,” she said, “but we all have the
opportunity to be social change agents on a micro
level” by helping our neighbors.
The MLK Service also featured poignant music
performances by Chri s Chew ’11, who sang “Deep
River;” the Snapdragons; and E l od ie Ge rma in ’12 and
L’Or ea l La mpl ey ’11, who sang “Amazing Grace.”
(available on our YouTube channel. See page 47 for
our Web extra information.)
All students will participate in a communitywide
day of service in April.

PHOTOS BY

PHOTO BY

SUZANNE MCGRADY

Campus happenings

R ACHEL R AMOS
PHOTO BY

San do Ba ys ah ’05 was on campus Jan. 25, 2011,
to talk with students interested in pursuing a career
in medicine—another lunchtime talk organized by
Science Department Chair Ho ll y Wi lli a ms. A secondyear medical student at Brown University, Baysah
outlined her tips for planning a collegiate career and
curriculum geared toward the ultimate goal of
becoming a doctor.

Above: Stephanie
Wein ’06.
Below:
Sando Baysah ’05.

Continued on page 56

R ACHEL R AMOS

Another “Brown Bag Lunch Speaker Series” offered
by the Science Department featured Stephanie Wein
’06, who returned to campus Thursday, Jan. 6, 2011, to
talk about her work as a biology research assistant.
Wein, who graduated from Skidmore College in
Saratoga Springs, N.Y., in 2010, titled her talk “The
Science of Sexy” and described her work researching
male ornamentation and sexual selection in the
Common Yellowthroat bird population.
As an undergraduate earning her bachelor’s
degree in biology, she and her fellow undergraduate
research assistants spent months logging data from
bib measurements and feather and blood samples to
discover how the most brilliantly decorated male
birds continued to win female attention and whether
their offspring fared better in the long run.
Wein, who credited Steve Leslie’s Environmental Science class for her interest in scientific
research, said the research helped her discover
she has a passion for the study of evolutionary

biology and ecology.
“It’s not just about dinosaur bones and fossil
relics in the Natural History Museum,” Wein said.
“It’s exciting to look at evolution as it’s happening.”
This past summer Wein began a new research
project by taking part in a trip to the Panamanian
rainforest to study the effect of introduced disease
in glass frogs. She currently attends the University of
Maryland, where she is at work on her Ph.D.
Wein is the daughter of Celeste and B o b We in,
a physics teacher at St. George’s. Her younger sister,
H ill a r y We in ’11, is the senior prefect.

PHOTO BY

to a group of interested students, faculty and staff
members on Dec. 6 in the Dupont Science Building.
Primarily recipes and sets of instructions, the
books featured everything from how to avoid the
plague to cures for baldness and bad breath, how to
make disappearing ink, and a sort of 16th century
equivalent of Viagra.
“Let’s say they were epistemologically eclectic,”
Visconti said.
The authors of the books, “the professors of
secrets,” were often on the margins of academia and
the educational world. “Certainly they were less
academically pure and more commercially inspired,”
Visconti said.
Though the so-called cures never seemed to
fulfill their claims, the professors of science seem to
play to an eager, if not hopeful, audience.
“And there were vast social and economic implications for these books,” Visconti said. “The authors
assumed that we needed to look more closely at
nature for the answer to medical issues.”
Dr. Visconti moved to the Hilltop this year with his
wife, Sarah Lawrence, a new member of the History
Department, and their 2-year-old daughter, Veronica.

S T. G E O R G E ’ S 2 0 1 1 W I N T E R B U L L E T I N

55

Campus happenings
Continued from page 55

She showed samples of her class lists while she
was an undergraduate studying biochemistry at
Harvard and told students about taking the Medical
College Admission Test and filling out med school
applications.
Baysah, who was born in Liberia, took several
trips abroad while at Harvard to research the health
care systems in places like Switzerland and China. For
her essays, she said, she emphasized her interest in
the Liberian health care system.
“They want to know about something you’re
interested in,” Baysah said of admission reps, “a project you can see through to the end.
“Don’t just say you like ‘Grey’s Anatomy.’”
The first Music Guild of the school year on Oct.
17 featured appearances by the Orchestra, the Jazz
Ensemble and a number of solo vocalists. Showing
off their singing talents were Ju lia n Tu rne r ’14, No ra
H o gan ’14, Jo se ph Gri me h ’13, L’Ore a l La mpl ey ’11,
Gra c e Al za iba k ’12, Jo se phi ne Ca nne ll ’13 and
E mmy Dere c kt or ’12.

PHOTOS BY

ANDREA HANSEN

St. George’s continues to answer the call to service
for the Rhode Island Blood Center. On Nov. 8, in an
effort this year organized by Assistant Athletic Director and Trainer Wendy Dr ysdale, the school surpassed
its goal and students, faculty members and staff
donated a total of 41 units. The next blood drive is
scheduled for Monday, April 18. This marks the completion of SG’s 25th year working with the RIBC.
Retired French teacher Steve Horowitz, a French
teacher at St. George’s for 34 years, instructional services faculty member E llen Mino r and Drysdale have
served as SG’s blood drive coordinators over the years.

Performers during Parents Weekend included the Hilltoppers (top), Peter Carrellas ’14 member of the Brass Ensemble (middle) and the Snapdragons (bottom).

56

S T. G E O R G E ’ S 2 0 1 1 W I N T E R B U L L E T I N

St. George’s admission programs for prospective
students continue to be a hot ticket on the school tour
circuit. This year the programs have played to a full
house of more than 100 visitors at each event, according to Associate Director of Admission Ju lia
Sa bou ri n. The “St. George’s Today” program is
designed for candidates and families who wish to
explore the school for a longer period of time and in

b
Wetra
ex

greater depth than is possible during a traditional
visit. The programs run from 8 a.m. through lunch in
King Hall at 12:15 p.m., and feature several presentations in the Main Common Room by faculty members and current students, as well as class visits and
campus tours. This year’s “St. George’s Today” programs took place on Oct. 9, Nov. 6, Dec. 4 and Jan. 8.
Know a prospective student who may wish to be
included next year? Call the Admission Office at (401)
842-6705 or e-mail admission_office@stgeorges.edu.

NEW YORK RECEPTION SITE AND
SCHO OL HAVE HISTO RICA L
CONNECTIONS
Our reception in New York city draw hundreds
to the historic New York Yacht Club at 37 West 44th
St.—a club steeped in tradition, and even more
important for our purposes, with close ties to St.
George’s. At the recent New York gathering in
November the club’s Vice Commodore, Thoma s
Ha rrington P’12, outlined for the audience exactly
how closely the two are actually aligned.
Harbour Court, the club’s home on Halidon
Avenue in Newport, is the former home of the Brown
family of Providence and Newport—“the link
between the New York Yacht Club and St. George’s
School,” Harrington said.
“Mrs. Natalie Bayard Brown built Harbour Court
for her son, John Nicholas Brown, between 1904 and
1906. She hired the architectural firm of Cram,
Goodhue and Ferguson of Boston. The design was
inspired by her sister’s chateau in Normandy, France.
“Natalie Brown’s only son, John Nicholas Brown,
attended St. George’s school where he studied as a
day student until 1918. In 1920, while still in college
at Harvard, he approached architect Ralph Adams
Cram, who had become a close friend, about creating a chapel, which he could present to St. George’s,
much as his mother had presented Emmanuel
Church in Newport to its congregation 20 years
earlier. Ralph Adams Cram said, and I quote: ‘This
particular chapel has for me much more than an
architectural and professional interest, for I had
known the donor since he was three years old….’
The classic Gothic chapel was consecrated on St.

El od ie Germa i n ’12 and L’Ore a l
L amp ley ’11 sing “Amazing Grace”
at the Martin Luther King Jr. Day
Chapel Service. Available on the
St. George’s YouTube Channel.

or visit
w w w. yo u t u b e . c o m / s g d r a g o n 3 7 2
on your phone’s browser.
George’s Day in 1928.
“In 1930, John Nicholas Brown married Anne
Seddon Kinsolving. Their first son was Nicholas Brown
who was christened in the St. George’s Chapel in 1932.
From 1952 until 1954, John Nicholas Brown served as
the 36th Commodore of the New York Yacht Club.
“In 2005, St. George’s School dedicated the John
Nicholas Brown ’18 Center in honor of the school’s
illustrious alumnus.”
Of course another connection between St.
George’s and the NYYC is St. George’s alumnus and
trustee Joe Ho opes ’62. Harrington called Hoopes “a
gentleman who has given of his time and treasure to
both the yacht club and to St. George’s School.”

Upcoming Events
D o n a l d V a n d e M a r k ’77, a former broadcast journalist who now
makes motivational speeches about leadership and success, is scheduled to
be a guest speaker on campus Monday, May 16, at 7 p.m.
As a former correspondent and anchor at CNN, CNBC and
public television, Van de Mark interviewed hundreds of leaders
in business and politics, including Jack Welch, Starbucks’
Howard Schultz, Intel Corp.’s Andy Grove, Charles Schwab, Bill Bradley,
Body Shop Founder Anita Roddick, and best-selling authors such as
Stephen Covey, Andrew Weil and Deepak Chopra. Now he’s using the
wisdom culled from those interviews to help others navigate the road to
more fulfilling careers.
He is the host of “The Wisdom of Caring Leaders” and “The Wisdom of
Teams,” training videos used by corporations and schools.
St. George’s looks forward to having Van de Mark share some of his tips
on strengthening leadership skills. Clips of his speeches can be found on
YouTube.

S T. G E O R G E ’ S 2 0 1 1 W I N T E R B U L L E T I N

57

PHOTOS BY

R ACHEL R AMOS

Traditions

The 99 th Annual
Christmas Festival and
A Service of Nine
Lessons & Carols 2010
Above: Sebastian Bierman-Lytle ’11, who served as the Master of the Feast at this
year’s Christmas Festival, sings “The Boar’s Head Carol.”
Left: Emily Walsh ’14 was one of several pages and Evans Barnes ’14 was
this year’s jester at the Christmas Festival.
Opposite page, top left: Crucifer Emma Scanlon ’12 carries the newly restored
Peaslee Processional Cross at the Service of Nine Lessons & Carols.
Top right: Choir members L’Oreal Lampley ’11, Succentor, and
Timon Watkins ’11, Precentor, lead the singers into the chapel.

58

S T. G E O R G E ’ S 2 0 1 1 W I N T E R B U L L E T I N

52nd Annual Pie Race
More than 80 “runners” turned out for this
year’s 52nd annual Pie Race Nov. 15, 2010. While
conditions were cold and gray, school spirit ruled
the day as Joe Mack ’12 of Bristol, R.I., crossed the
finish line first ahead of a motley assembly of
costumed creatures, theatrical types, dogs, small
children and those with afternoon study allergies.
Mack finished the 1.1 mile course with a time
of 6:04. “Junior Evan Read of Manhasset, N.Y., was
running about 10 yards ahead of Mack for most of
the race until he took a mysterious detour into the
school’s Charles A. Hamblet Campus Center just
before reaching the finish line,” wrote math teacher
and race organizer Doug Lewis in his post race
wrap-up. “When asked what led him off course,
Read momentarily put down an order of cheese
fries, wiped some ketchup from his lips, and said,
The Incredibles participated in this year’s Pie Race: (in the front row) Will
Peterson and Jake Peterson; and (in the back row) Librarian Jen Tuleja,
‘No comment.’”
Katie Harris ’11, Sage Hill ’14, Admission Officer Krista Peterson, English
The Pie Race is the brainchild of legendary
teacher Stuart Titus, Head of School Eric Peterson and Polina Godz ’11.
physics teacher and track coach Ted Hersey, who
devised the race back in 1959 as a way of bolstering school spirit. Each November since then, students have sprinted around the
Hilltop campus in an effort to win home-baked apple pies, approximately 20 of which were awarded at a school assembly on Friday, Nov. 19. Winners received their awards for a variety of reasons, few of which had to do with athleticism: Nick Larson ’13 and
Andy Moreau ’13 won the “Twelve Items or Fewer Prize,” given to those runners completing the race while pushing a grocery cart.

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Around Campus
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PHOTO BY

R ACHEL R AMOS

S

Remembering Nick Givotovsky ’83
A tree, planted in memory of N i c k G ivo tovs ky ’83,
will be dedicated on campus at the end of this school
year thanks to the generous
donations of his classmates.
Givotovsky, a husband and
father of two, died tragically in
a tractor accident at his home
in Connecticut on July 3, 2009. He was 44.
Nick’s vibrant career as an Internet consultant
and his many contributions to discussions about
digital identity and rights earned him the respect and
camaraderie of many in the industry.
“I believe we need explicit, uniform, enforceable,
and yes, universal rights to our own user-related data,”
Givotovsky wrote in one online forum. “Not just for
purposes of privacy, but so that individually and
collectively we can use our leverage as rightful owners
of what are in fact valuable assets …”

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A resident of Cornwall, Conn., Givotovsky also
had a passion for the outdoors.
Cornwall First Selectman Gordon Ridgway told
the local paper, “He came to our farm every spring
and bought plants for his yard. He was very involved
with the agricultural fair. He was a positive, upbeat
person who was always willing to help out. His loss
creates a big hole. Cornwall needs more people like
him.”
Givotovsky left behind his wife, Laura Kirk, and
his children, Nina, 12 and Sasha, 10.
The tree, a Mt. St. Helens® Flowering Plum, is
planted between Memorial Schoolhouse and the
library, behind Auchincloss Dormitory. A small
rounded tree with purple leaves, its light pink flowers
bloom in the early spring.
The tree dedication ceremony at SG is tentatively
set for early this summer.

RUBENSTEIN
PHOTO BY L EN

PHOTO BY

SUSAN BERMAN

Chapel photo wins photo contest
The Grand Prize in the 2010 Beautiful Middletown Photography Contest went to a photo of the cloister at St. George’s
Chapel. Portsmouth photographer Susan Berman took the
photo. “Probably no single structure in Middletown is more
iconic than the St. George’s Chapel,” the judges wrote. “Yet we
seldom see the grace and symmetrical beauty of the supporting structure itself. This photograph captures that with great
detail. The blue stone walkway leads you into the image, while
the shadow detail and color palette provides a calmness that
equally draws the viewer into the photograph. Technically, the
perspective control is superb, the color rendition accurate and
balanced and the depth of field perfect.”

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Around Campus
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PHOTO BY

BILL DOUGLAS

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PHOTO BY

The copper dragon sculptures on the
exterior of the east side of the Nathaniel
P. Hill Library were removed prior to the
start of restoration of the building last
fall. Though they appear to have been
made specially for St. George's, the sculptures were actually manufactured in the
early 1890s for an office building in
downtown Providence known as the
Manufacturers Building. The dragons
wrapped around large metal flagpoles at
the seventh-floor level of that building,
which was in continuous use until 1964,
when it was demolished in an “urban
renewal” effort. Luckily for St. George’s,
the dragons were saved—thanks to Frank
Mauran ’43, former Art Department
Head Richard Grosvenor, and the late
Headmaster Archer Harman, who were
instrumental in bringing the two magnificent sculptures to campus after the
Hill Library was completed in 1978.

EMMY SULLIVAN

These antique, cast-iron urns now decorating the entrance of Old School were donated by the Class of 1985 on the occasion
of their 25th reunion in memory of classmates Jonathan L. Cohen ’85, Ralph C. Menapace, III ’85, and Jeffrey A. Napoleon
’85. Talented SG gardener Lori Silvia filled the urns with festive cuttings from around campus of Red Twig Dogwood, three
varieties of holly, Blue Spruce, Juniper “Grey Owl,” Cypress, Arborvitae, Weeping White Pine and Winterberry.

Global outreach
O M M U N I T Y

M E M B E R S

G E T

A

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V I E W

PHOTO BY

R ACHEL R AMOS

C

PHOTO BY

R ACHEL R AMOS

The seniors in this year’s Seminar in Global Studies class will travel for 10 days beginning March 7 to Senegal, where they will
conduct research for a cultural studies project on a topic of their own choosing. Pictured here are (in the front row) Caroline
Miller, (in the middle row) Katherine Wilkinson, Polina Godz, Rachel Sellstone and Hillary Wein; and (in the back row),
seminar instructor Jeremy Goldstein, science teacher Devon Ducharme, Phoebe Manning, Magdalena Franze-Soeln, Victoria
Leonard, Timon Watkins, Mary O’Connor, Brittany Corso, Anaise Kanimba and science teacher Kim Bullock.

Davi d Ch oi (left), an exchange student
from South Africa, arrived on campus
Oct. 3 for a seven-week
program of study at St.
George’s coordinated by
Director of Global Progams
Jo e Go ul d (right). Choi, 17, is a student at Cape Town’s all boys Bishop’s
School. An ongoing exchange begun
two years ago allows the South African
students to study here in the fall and
two St. George’s students, one boy and
one girl, to travel abroad in the summer. The St. George’s girl attends the
nearby all girls St. Cyprian’s School
in Cape Town.

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On the web
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D D I T I O N@
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s
o
e
vid

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Community members are now watching Hilltop events from
the comfor t of their own homes, live on the web.
Don’t miss another night of SG entertainment!

1. Go to www.flickr.com/stgeorgesschool/collections
2. Click through our galleries to see the photography.
3. Once you have selected a photo you’d like to download,
click on the “Actions” tab at the top left.
4. Scroll to “View All Sizes.”
5. Click on the “Original” Size, then click on
“Download the Original size of this photo” above the picture.
The photo will be saved to your computer.
Now you’ve got your printable photo for free!

A photo by Charles A.Y. Thompson ’88.
An exhibit of prints by acclaimed photographer C ha rle s A.Y. T ho mpso n ’88 was
on display at the Pobeda Gallery in Moscow,
Russia, from Dec. 17, 2010, to Jan. 31, 2011.
The exhibit was titled “Sirin and
Alkonost,” after the mythical half-bird/halfwoman creatures of Russian folklore. In his
statement for the show, Thompson wrote:
“To me the myth of Sirin and Alkonost
encapsulates the yearning to escape our
human limitations and enter the realm of
pure power, beauty and infinite possibility.
While they are obviously also symbols of
female power, beauty and intelligence, Sirin
and Alkonost stand for something more
universal. This desire to metamorphize and
transform oneself into something extraordinary is perhaps shared by all humanity, but
to me, in Russian culture, and especially in
ballet, it is in a particularly raw form. The
ballerinas featured in these images are captured at that very moment of transformation, where bird wings have yet to appear,
yet the human body has already achieved
flight.”
Thompson’s editorial and art photography have been published in, among others,
Vogue, Esquire, Elle Décor, Town & Country
and The New York Times.

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Davi d To dd ’77, P ’14 has been making
the rounds, publicizing his new book, “The
Texas Legacy Project: Stories of Courage and
Conservation,” which was published last fall.
The book, is a collection of stories about
Texans who’ve devoted parts of their lives to
preserving land and wildlife, or advocating
for public health, or for a voice in media and
politics. “To find and preserve these stories
of courage and perseverance, the Conservation History Association of Texas launched
the Texas Legacy Project in 1998, traveling
thousands of miles to conduct hundreds of
interviews with people from all over the
state,” Todd writes. The oral histories now
also have been made available online with
accompanying video and audio. Stories
include everything from a West Texas grocer
fighting nuclear waste to an Austin lobbyist
pressing for green energy.
Todd is the founder, coordinator, and
interviewer for the Conservation History
Association of Texas. He has worked as an
environmental attorney, environmental
donor, and cattle rancher, and has served on
the boards of Audubon Texas, the Texas
Conservation Alliance, Texas League of
Conservation Voters, and Lone Star Chapter
of the Sierra Club.
La ure n Stra ssn er R usse ll ’90 and the
furniture company she co-owns with her
father, Russell & Mackenna Furniture, were
featured in the Nov. 15, 2010, Wall Street
Journal as part of an article on parents and
children going into business together. In
“Parent & Child Inc.,” reporters Colleen
DeBaise, Emily Maltby and Sarah E. Needleman focus on what they call the less-than“traditional path to entrepreneurship.”
Russell says she started her company after a
marketing client of hers saw a nauticalthemed vanity she had in her home that had
been designed by Russell and built by her
husband, and requested one for herself. The

S T. G E O R G E ’ S 2 0 1 1 W I N T E R B U L L E T I N

A new book co-authored by David Todd ’77,
P’14.
client then ordered a host of other furniture
items from the duo. The orders inspired
Russell to start her own company, “but
neither of us had any business experience,”
Russell told the reporters of herself and her
husband. “I knew really quickly to make it
work we were going to need some help.”
Luckily her father, Larry Strassner, who had
just retired after serving as chief executive
officer of a publicly traded staffing company, was available for guidance. Now, seven
years later, the father and daughter duo have
grown their co-owned business to more
than $1 million in annual revenue.
The recipient of St. George’s 2010
Diman Award for distinguished alumni/ae,
Ka te Ze rnike ’86, has been making the
media rounds to promote her new book
“Boiling Mad: Inside Tea Party America.”
Along with a number of print interviews
with international publications such as the
Christian Science Monitor, Zernike made
television appearances on shows including a
panel discussion on C-Span’s Book TV, in
which she appeared with Tuc ker Ca rl son ’87
and “This Week in Washington” with Christianne Amanpour and “The Press Club.”
Ja me s A. Tor rey ’66 was nominated for
an administrative post in the Obama

administration in November when the
president suggested him for a seat on the
board of directors for the Overseas Private
Investment Corp.
OPIC is a financially independent U.S.
government agency that helps U.S. businesses invest overseas, fosters economic
development in new and emerging markets,
and supports U.S. foreign policy—at no net
cost to taxpayers.
Eight members of OPIC’s Board of
Directors are from the private sector and
seven are from the federal government.
A hedge fund investor since 1977, Torrey is a senior advisor to Cadogan Management, a fund-of-funds firm with offices in
New York, Tokyo and London. He founded
The Torrey Funds in 1990 to identify and
invest with promising hedge-fund talent. In
1992, he formed one of the first exclusively
international fund-of-funds. Prior to the
founding of The Torrey Funds, he held a
variety of executive positions with Kidder,
Peabody & Co, The First Boston Corp. (now
Credit Suisse), Paine Webber and Alex
Brown & Sons. All members of OPIC’s
Board of Directors, which meets four times
per year, must be appointed by the President
of the United States and confirmed by the
U.S. Senate.
Syd T hayer ’68 was making a name for
himself this winter in the world of threedimensional film.
“Vancouver 2010 – Stories of Olympic
Glory,” a 3-D film Thayer co-produced with
Cassandra Henning, premiered in December
on DirecTV. It was the first 3-D film ever
shot at the Olympics, according to Thayer.
“It’s a start, but as technology improves,
this will become the standard,” noted
Thayer, who works for the independent film
production company Cappy Productions in
New York.

The film, which is 46 minutes long,
includes stories on speed skater Apolo Ohno
and his quest to become the most-decorated
American winter Olympian of all time, the
controversial showdown between figure
skaters Evan Lysacek and Evgeni Plushenko,
and the Chinese pairs team of Shen Xue and
Zhao Hongbo, who earned their nation’s
first-ever gold medal in figure skating.
Jamestown, R.I., resident Sc ot t Ferg us on ’80 retained his title as sailing’s Laser
Standard Master fleet winner at the Laser
Masters World Championships in Hayling
Bay, England on Sept. 19, 2010.
His final tally of 15 points placed him 21
ahead of his principal rival, the Netherland’s
Arnoud Hummel. Conditions were wavy,
but Ferguson held his own, while Hummel
suffered an unfortunate “death roll.”
“I was a little bit surprised I did as well
as I did because there are a lot of really good
guys out there,” Ferguson told reporters
after the event. “A lot of things fell into place
for me.”
It was Ferguson’s fourth world championship appearance. He was third in Brazil
his first time out, fourth in Spain his second,
and won in Halifax in 2009.
Last summer US-61, a 12-metre yacht
owned by Guy He c k ma n ’69, was tearing
up racecourses up and down the east coast.
The storied boat won her class at the New
York Yacht Club Annual Regatta and the
Around the Island Race, as well as every
regatta in Newport and Edgartown, according to Heckman. She also won the North
Americans in the grand prix class. US-61 is
housed at the Newport Shipyard, and is the
only “Twelve” with a forward canard rudder. She was originally built for Tom Blackaller, the three-time America’s Cup
competitor, world champion, engineer, sail

Guy Heckman ’69 on the 12-metre US-61.

maker and internationally famous helmsman, who died in 1989.
Xo c hi na E l H i la li ’07 was the subject of
a feature story in the January 2011 issue of

Carnegie Mellon Today titled “Ridiculous,”
by free-lance writer Sally Ann Flecker (available online).
Right now El Hilali is finishing up the
requirements for her chemistry major and
her minor in economics at the Pittsburgh
university—and she credits her boarding
school experience for part of her success.
“I studied with people who otherwise
I would never have had the chance to interact with,” El Hilali said of St. George’s. She
told Flecker she felt an emphasis here to be
“more than a good student; the students
were expected to be leaders.” College counselors here told her about Carnegie Mellon.
“I probably wouldn’t have applied here if I
hadn’t gone to St. George’s,” she said.
Last year El Hilali was selected as a
United Negro College Fund/Merck Undergraduate Science Research Scholar, which is
intended to encourage the interest of
African American undergraduate students
in science and biomedical science careers.
Included with the scholarship are two paid
Merck internships—one she attended in
2010 and one she’ll embark on after her
graduation in May.

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Faculty/Staff Notes
Veteran St. George’s sailing coach Roy Wil lia ms
is the subject of a profile on the industry web
site Sail1Design.com (www.sail1design.com/
airwaves).
“Notes From a Very
Fortunate High School Sailing Coach” by alumna Je n
( Van de mo er) Mi tc he ll ’00
outlines Williams’ philosophy
on coaching and how he’s
developed the program over
Roy Williams
the last 21 years on the Hilltop. While Williams admits
SG’s resources have helped the teams succeed, high
school sailing, he says, is all about the opportunity for
him to “innovate, educate, motivate, and appreciate” his students.
“I’m rewarded seeing the students get into sailing
and develop confidence and skills,” he told Mitchell.
He’s also supported by wonderful resources. As
the article notes, SG has the largest high-schoolowned fleet of club-collegiate 420’s in the country
with 22. The program also has two FJs and four
power boats, so Roy and his team of coaches operating from the Ida Lewis Yacht Club in Newport Harbor, can train the team and set up courses to suit
their needs. The program usually has about 45 student sailors each spring, with those on the varsity
team training for the Fleet Racing (Mallory/Cressy)
and Team Racing (Baker) National Championships.
Mitchell, a former member of the SG varsity sailing team, graduated from St. Mary’s College of Maryland with a bachelor’s degree in English. She sailed on
the varsity sailing team at St. Mary’s and was a co-captain in her senior year. She was a three-time All-American Crew and a two time National Champion.
A hearty congratulations to English teacher Ale x
M ye r s, who recently received
his Master of Fine Arts in
Creative Writing degree from
Vermont College. A prolific
writer, Myers’ fiction and
nonfiction has been published in a number of literary
journals, including Juked, A
Alex Myers

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Capella Zoo, Flashquake, The Battered Suitcase, the
Apple Valley Review and Short Story America, which
nominated a story of his for a Pushcart Prize. He won
first place in the Tiny Lights 2008 personal narrative
contest for “The King and I,” previously reprinted in
the Bulletin. In March, he’ll be published in
Whistling Shade.
Art Department Chair Mike Ha n sel’s ’76 sculptures were the focus of a solo show at Rhode Island
College’s Bannister Gallery in December.
The show, “Sculpture In All Its Parts,”
highlighted Hansel’s use of
natural and mechanical
elements to suggest “...that
nature and industry aren’t
really opposites, but more
like complementary terms.”
“Mike Hansel uses sculpture to point people away
Mike Hansel ’76
from what they take for
granted towards an oddly
humorous world composed of vaguely familiar elements. His works are reinvented associations made
between careful observations and the half-forgotten
elements of memory,” noted Curator Professor
William Martin, chair of RIC’s art department.
A large-scale piece of Hansel’s sculpture was
installed at the south end of Adams Library on the
RIC campus and will remain there until September.
Sar ah Dic k, a 2007 graduate and former school
prefect, has accepted a position to serve as an internship fellow in the Admission Office for the next two
years. She’ll begin work this summer.
Dick, who will graduate from Claremont
McKenna College with a bachelor’s degree in art this
spring, has continued to
pursue her passion for
lacrosse. She has been an AllAmerican for the past two
seasons as well as her league’s
player of the year last year,
and she’ll captain the team
this spring. “We are very
excited to have Sarah working
Sarah Dick ’07

with us for the next two years,” said Director of
Admission Ji m Ha mi lto n.

Corps Marathon on Sunday, Oct. 31, in Washington,
D.C. Tuleja used the event to raise money for the
American Cancer Society in honor of her dad, who
was diagnosed with the disease two years ago. “His
courage and strength to get better inspire me.”
Admission Intern M a tt D’An no lfo completed
the New York Marathon Sunday, Nov. 7, in 4:53:02.

PHOTO BY

Science teacher Dr. K i m Bu llo c k was among 40
teachers, graduate students and community activists
to participate in the 9th
annual International Nonviolence Summer Institute at the
University of Rhode Island
July 6-16, 2010.
The gathering, intended
to certify participants as
Kingian nonviolence trainers,
was taught by Nonviolence
Kim Bullock
trainers Jonathan Lewis of
the Gathering for Justice; Gail Faris, of the URI
Women’s Center, and Dr. Paul Bueno de Mesquita,
director of URI’s Center for Nonviolence and Peace
Studies. Dr. Bernard Lafayette Jr., noted civil rights
luminary and distinguished visiting scholar, returned
directly from a current training project in Nigeria, to
serve as the institute’s senior trainer for the ninth
consecutive year.
Bullock says Dr. Martin Luther King’s principles
of nonviolence truly inspired all participants
throughout the intensive training.

TULEJA

Geronimo Captain and program coordinator
De bo ra h H aye s was invited by Sail Training International (STI) to speak at the
group’s annual conference in
November.
Her talk was titled, “Risk
in Sail Training: Recognizing
and Managing it,” and was one
of several workshops held at
The International Sail TrainDeborah Hayes
ing and Tall Ships Conference
2010 in Stavanger, Norway.
STI is a worldwide sail training organization
representing 30 countries and hundreds of sail training programs.

Associate Director of
Admission Betsy
Leslie and science
teacher Steve Leslie,
who returned from a
yearlong sabbatical in
Montana last summer, presented a talk
on their research of
the wolf population in
Yellowstone National
Park at one of the
Science Department’s
Brown Bag Lunches.

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Faculty/Staff Notes

SUZANNE MCGRADY

Longtime
receptionist
takes her
final call

W

hen the red doors of Old
School opened to usher in the
start of the 2010-11 school year,
there was a palpable difference in the front
hall. Along with a renovation of some of the
peripheral offices, longtime receptionist
Gail Miner couldn’t be heard greeting newcomers or giving directions. After 25 years
at SG, Miner retired last September.
Miner, tucked in her small office in the
lobby of Old School, was a friendly fixture in
the life of the school for visitors and community members alike. She arrived at a time
when the school was just making its first
foray into the modern age of telecommunications. “We’ve never had this position. Make
it!” she says she was told on one of her first
days on the job. Business Manager Wes Hennion had recruited her with the intention of
providing callers to SG a centralized phone
service. Miner seemed right for the job.
Miner arrived in Newport in 1962 from
Utica, N.Y., “an 18-year-old kid, the bride of
a sailor,” she said. For 13 years, along with
raising four girls and a boy, she worked for
the Answering Service of Newport, where
she often fielded off-hours calls dealing with

70

PHOTO BY

A born conversationalist,
Gail Miner arrived at a time
when the school didn’t have a
switchboard—and became the
welcoming voice of SG
emergencies. The job was very stressful, she
said, “and after a while you got burned out.”
On her first day at St. George’s, she
recalls meeting then Admission Office and
Summer School Assistant Marge McFarland
out on Sixth Form Porch. As the two sat
together in the light breeze overlooking the
beach, she remembers saying, “You know, I
could get used to this.” The two would later
forge an enduring, close friendship. McFarland went on to serve as the school’s registrar.
St. George’s seemed to suit Miner’s feisty,
up-beat personality to a “T”. Still, she admits,
“I was so new at first, I just sat back in awe.”
The seriousness of the school’s purpose, and
the intellectual and personal lives of community members all wove themselves into
the fabric of Miner’s own life. She has fond
memories of many aspects in the life of the
school, and the people she met here. The
recently deceased Jean Peirce, she said, ran
the SG Dining Hall with commander-like
intensity, with the end result being a lot of
well-fed individuals. “You could really walk
out of King Hall feeling like you weighed
400 pounds,” she said. She enjoyed socializing with the parents who came to pick up

S T. G E O R G E ’ S 2 0 1 1 W I N T E R B U L L E T I N

their students, though celebrities and the
not-so-well known were all alike to her, she
mentions. She remembers the actor Jason
Robards, the author Danielle Steele, golfer
Raymond Floyd (who gave her an autographed photo for her son-in-law) and the
former CEO of Reebok, Paul Fireman.
An avid reader with a thirst for knowledge, she often found that being a receptionist allowed her to have a number of
engaging conversations throughout the day.
She also took pride in being a reliable
source of information for just about anyone
with a question entering the building—or
already in the building for that matter.
Students hold a special place in her
heart, and she particularly recalls Jason
Monroe ’95 waiting for her at her car one
day, just to stay in touch.
A devout Catholic, Miner began nearly
every workday at the beach, where she would
read the newspaper and say her prayers. She
was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis 23
years ago, but only recently required the use
of a wheelchair. She remains optimistic about
her retirement years. Memories of St.
George’s sustain her. “I smile a lot,” she said.

Board notes
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F R O M

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Bethea appointed to SG Board of Trustees;
Lee, Ariail remembered

Trustees and the community warmly remember former trustee and faculty member
Charlie Lee P’87, who died in a single-car crash
near Killingly, Conn., Dec. 10.
The bow-tie-wearing Lee was an SG

trustee from 1982-1991, the father of Chris Lee
’87 and the brother of honorary trustee Phip
Lee. He was an ardent supporter of the Geronimo sail training and marine studies programs.
Lee lived in Narragansett, R.I., with his
wife, Camilla, of 44 years. As an investment
banker, Lee for a time lived overseas in Hong
Kong and Tokyo, and also resided in New
York, Boston and Providence, where most recently he was a vice president of Morgan
Stanley Smith Barney. According to those who
knew him best, however, he had a special
fondness for the shoreline of Rhode Island,
where he kept his boat and spent time with
his family. An avid fisherman who took daily
walks with his dog, Tucker, Lee also was well
known in Rhode Island for his support of
Canonchet Farm, 174 acres of land in Narragansett that environmentalists hope to protect
from development.

THE 1976 L ANCE

The St. George’s Board of Trustees welcomes to its ranks Rodulphus Bethea Jr., who
graduated from St.
George’s in 1987.
The Board voted
unanimously to appoint Bethea at its
meeting on Oct. 16,
2010.
Bethea is the vice
president of global
sales and strategy for
Rodulphus (Rudy)
Bethea Jr. ’87
MetLife’s employee
benefits arm, Institutional Business. He has been with MetLife for
more than 15 years in various roles.
In 2009, Bethea received the YMCA Black
Achievers in Industry Award, and he was previously recognized as one of the Top 50 Under
50 corporate executives by Black MBA magazine. An active volunteer for A Better Chance,
Bethea is also the vice chair of membership for
ABC’s National Advisory Council.
Bethea graduated from Bowdoin College
with a double major in government and
African-American studies and a minor in economics. As a Consortium for Graduate Study
in Management fellow, he attended the University of Southern California where he received his M.B.A. in 2000.
Currently, Bethea and his wife, Aliya, live
in Southern California with their daughter,
Maya.

The community also mourns the death of
John Ariail P ’89, ’94, a former trustee who

died on Jan. 20. Ariail lived a life filled with
generosity to others, according to his family.
Proud of his Irish roots, the Alexandria, Va.,
lawyer used his good fortune to benefit others
and the city around him. He was a supporter
of many efforts to beautify the city and helped
those in need on a regular basis. A graduate of
Davison College in 1964, Ariail received the
school’s Alumni Service Award in 2004, recognizing him for his “high degree of service to
the college.”
He was also a talented and involved business owner and landlord. He co-owned a
number of restaurants including Restaurant
Eve, The Majestic and Eamonn’s Dublin Chipper in the city. He was also founder of Sport
and Health Clubs, and co-owner of Lorton’s
Workhouse Arts Center and the Alexandria
Times, according to the newspaper.
Like Lee, Ariail also enjoyed time outdoors with his dogs; he could be seen regularly
“walking his beloved American water spaniels,
Snickers and Moon Pie, around the city,” the
paper noted.
At St. George’s, Ariail was a devoted St.
George’s parent who always kept the school
close to his heart. He served as a member of
the board from 1986-1992.
Ariail leaves behind his wife, Leslie, his
sons, Jay Ariail and J.E. Shreve Ariail ’94, and
his daughter, Allison Erdle ’89.
On a final note, also at the Oct. 16, 2010,
board meeting, the trustees voted to appoint
Foxhall “Foxy” Parker ’43 an honorary trustee.
Parker served the school as a trustee for 21
years and retired from the board in 2010.

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71

QUENTIN WARREN
PHOTO BY

The fondest of
memories
BY QUENTIN WARREN

“I shall always be grateful for that place.”
—on Jackson Pond, Dedham, Mass., September 27, 2010
He flew night fighters for the RAF in World War II, sold hairbrushes in New York,
plugged British sports cars in Boston, ran a marmalade business in Hamilton, Mass.,
became a radio and television personality on both sides of the Atlantic,
operated a mobile broadcasting studio up and down the U.S. East Coast,
married the love of his life and then, upon losing her, married the other love of his life.
He has traveled the seven continents. Throughout it all, he has never forgotten
or failed to appreciate the year he spent at St. George’s, and he remains among
the school’s staunchest advocates

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S T. G E O R G E ’ S 2 0 1 1 W I N T E R B U L L E T I N

G
“

ood afternoon, Sir,” I said, “ I’m
Michael Wynne-Willson, the new
ESU Exchange student from Radley
College in England.”
“A warm welcome to you, Mike, please
come in,” he replied. “I’m glad to meet you
and I hope that you will enjoy your year
here.”
“I’m sure I will, thank you, Sir,” I replied.
“I want you to know that I’m here to
broaden my mind and not my education!”
So went the inauspicious give-and-take
when St. George’s School Headmaster
Vaughan Merrick greeted a new senior from
Great Britain in the fall of 1936. Recalling the
words of Humphrey Bogart’s Rick Blaine in
the memorable film “Casablanca,” it was destined to become “the beginning of a beautiful friendship.”
Michael F. Wynne-Willson ’37, P’73,
spent a single academic year at St. George’s
on an English Speaking Union scholarship.
But the bond he formed in those indelible
nine months as a 17-year-old rivals any you’ll
find in fellow alums before his time and since.
His SG experience is woven like tracer thread
through the course of his colorful life—his
priceless relationships with people, his unflappably positive take on things, his
poignant humor, and the eclectic, often hairraising events that came to shape him in all
his complexity to this day. Wherever he went,
whomever he met, and whatever he did, he’ll
insist that lurking behind it all, every step of
the way, was that pillar of fortitude, camaraderie and mischievous good cheer that took
root in his sixth-form year right here at SG.
And to seal it like a bug in amber for all
of perpetuity, embarrassingly he’ll point
out that his photo has appeared on the
opening spread of “Class Notes” in the
Bulletin more times than even he cares
to admit.
Suffice it to say, Michael’s allegiance to
St. George’s and indebtedness to the year he

Perched on the West Steps outside Sixth Form House in a photograph taken by Michael
during his SG days are cohorts and close friends from the class of 1937— Johnny Bell,
Kinsley Twining, Dick Sheble and Hack Wilson—along with a young Johnny Merrick, son
of the headmaster. Opposite, Michael in vintage RAF sheepskin alongside Head of School
Eric Peterson on a recent visit to the Hilltop.
attended run deep. He served on the Annual
Giving Committee in 1990-91, resumed that
post in 2008 and continues at it today. He
has been a loyal and prolific class correspondent for as long as anyone can remember. He
is a member of the Ogden Nash Society. He
has attended more SG events including reunions, dedications and special Chapel services than anyone can begin to tally. He is a
vocal ambassador of St. George’s who champions the school at every opportunity. He
has endeared himself to the Alumni/ae Office. He is wholly sincere in his support. On
the occasion of his 50th reunion at the 1987
Alumni/ae Weekend Chapel Service he delivered the homily. “How lucky and grateful I
am that, through a stroke of good fortune, I
was chosen to come here from Radley College in England and how totally it altered the
shape of my life,” he remarked.

M

ichael was born in London, England, on Sept. 13, 1919. His father, Linton F. Wynne Willson,
served in the British military during World
War I and the Boer War in Africa, following
which he became the headmaster of a school
for boys in the county of Gloucestershire.
Michael’s description of him as it appears in
“Before I Forget!,” the first in a series of two

self-published autobiographical accounts
containing Michael’s memoirs through 2002,
is worth noting because it could be used just
as easily to describe Michael himself: “He
was the owner of a superb sense of humor
and a love for life, his fellow man, girls and
all sports.”
And who but Michael’s mother to soften
the edges even further, whom he describes
thus: “A kinder and more thoughtful lady
than my Mum would have been next to impossible to find.”
The result of their union was a delightfully funny fellow with a huge heart and a
uniquely optimistic world view. “I was the
luckiest of kids when I was young, for I never
doubted for a minute that my parents loved
me,” Michael writes. “They instilled in both
[my sister] Betty and me the basics of love,
honesty, trust, obedience, humility and caring for others. They charted the way for us
and made it all as simple as possible for us to
follow by their example.”
He was enrolled at Radley College in
Abingdon just to the south of Oxford when
he received an English Speaking Union
scholarship to St. George’s in 1936 for his
senior year—no need for confusion, mind
you, as the British term “college” coincides
with the American notion of “secondary

S T. G E O R G E ’ S 2 0 1 1 W I N T E R B U L L E T I N

73

MICHAEL WYNNE-WILLSON
PHOTO COURTESY OF

Michael (front row, third from left) and fellow fliers in the RAF 255 Night Fighter
Squadron gather on a typical Sunday afternoon outside one of their favorite wartime
watering holes, the Adam & Eve pub in Trunch north of Norwich and the Norfolk Broads.
Below, Michael toasts family and friends at his 90th birthday party in Brookline, Mass.
on Sept. 13, 2009.
school.” He was already well versed in the art
of schoolboy high jinks, having discovered at
an early age that girls, good friends and a
fun-loving spirit resonated far more conspicuously in his view of life than dogged academics. So armed, he came to the Hilltop
wondering “what in heaven’s name I had got
myself into,” although certain that the year
ahead “was surely going to be different and
anything but dull!”
And so it was, a year of eye-opening
firsts and new people and an introduction to
the U.S. where, a decade later, he would
come to live. At St. George’s he moved into
Sixth Form House and made friends instantly—with his roommate Kerr Collingwood, with the unforgettable black
groundskeeper and night watchman, Sam,
to whom he became particularly attached,
with Maggie who served tea in the Main
Common Room, with Vaughan and Bea
Merrick, with George and Marge Wheeler,
and with classmates and fellow students. His
own words at his 50th leave no doubt as to
the significance of the experience:
“The tolerant understanding of the faculty, and the lasting, never-to-be-forgotten
and most valuable friendships which have
meant so much for so long … the Merricks

74

and the Wheelers, and some of those within
my class. Is it any wonder then that as often
as I return to this most special and beautiful
of places, I feel as if I’m returning home?”
On holidays and weekends, like any
Dragon today, Michael would venture off
campus with friends and visit places like
Boston, New York, Philadelphia and Montreal. Shenanigans aside, it was on one such
foray that he met a girl named Jackie Chambers whom he would end up marrying seven
years later. As the story goes, he went to

S T. G E O R G E ’ S 2 0 1 1 W I N T E R B U L L E T I N

Rhinebeck, N.Y., to visit an old family friend
who had started a school for girls there called
Foxhollow. He was delighted to catch up
with this familiar vestige of his childhood,
but even more so “to ascertain that I was the
only male in her hen-coop of gorgeous
young maidens!” Jackie happened to be the
president of the senior class, and she and
Michael struck a chord, corresponded regularly and would remain attached throughout
her all-too-brief life, which ended with cancer in 1967.

G

raduation from St. George’s came,
as Michael laments, “all too swiftly,”
and he returned to his family in
England. As it happened, his father died of a
heart attack quite suddenly and the future
lost its glimmer, especially on the brink of
yet another world war, with Great Britain
poised in the cross hairs of Germany’s
bombsights. Michael joined the Royal Air
Force (RAF) in 1939 and flew twin-engine
Bristol Beaufighters among other aircraft in
night-fighter operations against the German
Luftwaffe until 1946. For an active RAF pilot,
it was a time of excitement and fear, learning
and growth, and in Michael’s case, more stories than can possibly fit in these sundry
pages. He writes in “Before I Forget!”:
“What was WWII really like for me?
First I must say that in my way of thinking,
war of any kind is ungodly, hellish, often terrifying, a ludicrous waste of time, money,
and, above all, humans. Secondly, I have to
say that, for me, war was challenging, educational, exciting and I must say ashamedly if
honestly, often fun.”
On leave at one point in 1944, Michael
returned to the States and married Jackie in
Middleburg, Va., in a ceremony the attendees
of which included none other than Vaughan
and Bea Merrick. Following the war they
lived in England, but faced with untenable
career opportunities (“When I came out of

MICHAEL WYNNE-WILLSON
PHOTO COURTESY OF

the RAF, all the four-engine bomber boys
were getting the good jobs in civil aviation!”), and health issues with regard to
Jackie’s ability to bear children, they made
the decision to move to the U.S. in 1948.
They lived in New York City for a brief while
where Michael sold hairbrushes for Kent of
London. (“I knew as much about how to sell
a Kent brush as a mermaid might know
about how to put on trousers!”). From there
they moved to Boston where he sold British
automobiles, then to Hamilton, Mass.,
where, over the course of 19 years, they produced and marketed homemade Mendip
Marmalade, and he became involved in
broadcasting on both sides of the camera in
the early days of on-location news reporting.
They adopted two children, first Wendy, then
Mark, who would go on to become a member of the class of 1973 at St. George’s.
Alas, Jackie succumbed to cancer in
1967, the end of a loving era, leaving Michael
a widower at the age of 46 in Hamilton with
Wendy and Mark, dogs Minus and Duchess,
cat Perky and pony Piglet. He became very
involved in public relations for the New England Aquarium, the Boston Zoological Society, and Harbor National Bank, and during
that time he met Anne Patterson who became his second wife on June 8, 1968, and
remains devotedly so to this day. They
moved from Hamilton to Westwood, Mass.,
in 1970, very close to the town of Dedham
where they now reside.
True to form, Annie and Michael have
lived an active, outwardly productive life together, including some 40-odd years of extensive global travel as organizers and tour
guides of high-end excursions to exotic locales—Antarctica, Africa, India, the Far
East, Jordan, and more. Paid to accompany
first-class tourists all over the world
amounts to classic Wynne-Willson entrepreneurship, providing the two of them
with, as Michael puts it, “champagne-class

Michael and Annie in springtime regalia at a June 1982 outing. Of Annie he would write in
his second book of memoirs, “It is my delight to dedicate this to Annie who, as you may have
gathered, is just one kind, loving, caring, patient and super special girl. Should you know
her, you will know that that is next to an understatement!”
travel on a beer budget.”
But, to be honest, what better travel
companionship could anybody with a
passport ask for?
And as far as St. George’s is concerned,
what better friends to count among its own?
Annie and Michael visit the Alumni/ae Office every summer on the hottest day imaginable loaded with deli sandwiches, chips,
cold leek soup, homemade cookies and the
tastiest iced tea on the planet. It used to be a
picnic for the office outdoors on the rocks,
but last year it morphed into a spread on
Sixth Form Porch. Personally, I think they do
it because they like us, but there is more.
There is the Hilltop, and the school, and the
setting, and their own genuine belief that it is

important to remember the impact all of it
had on a young boy from England in 1937.
In a chat last fall Michael described the feeling as one of “absolute sheer gratitude for the
fact that it enabled me to get a little bit of a
look at the future, which you don’t usually
have at the age of 16 or 17.”
Ironically, for a man with the most lighthearted touch and disarming wit, the gravity
of what really counts in life hardly escapes
him. From the Chapel lectern on the occasion of his 50th reunion he said, “If experience has given me the right to suggest anything to anyone, it is to try to remember
never to forget any kindness or favor done,
and to constantly try to remember those who
touched one’s life in that way over the years.”

Michael with the
members of the
Alumni/ae Development Office during
their annual midsummer picnic: (l-r)
Cindy Martin, Linda
Michalek, Quentin
Warren, Michael,
Toni Ciany, Krista
Sturtevant, Bill
Douglas and Natalia
Tavares do Couto.

S T. G E O R G E ’ S 2 0 1 1 W I N T E R B U L L E T I N

75

Show your dragon pride!
Order one of our newest items
from the SG Bookstore.

Call the bookstore at 1-401-842-6662 for these items and more, or visit our online store at www.stgeorges.edu.

76

S T. G E O R G E ’ S 2 0 1 1 W I N T E R B U L L E T I N

St . G e o r g e ’ s S c h o o l
M i s s i o n St a t e m e n t
In 1896, the Rev. John Byron Diman,
founder of St. George’s School, wrote in his
“Purposes of the School” that “the specific
objectives of St. George’s are to give its students the opportunity of developing to the
fullest extent possible the particular gifts that
are theirs and to encourage in them the desire
to do so. Their immediate job after leaving
school is to handle successfully the demands
of college; later it is hoped that their lives will
be ones of constructive service to the world
and to God.”
In the 21st century, we continue to teach
young women and men the value of learning
and achievement, service to others, and respect
for the individual. We believe that these goals
can best be accomplished by exposing students
to a wide range of ideas and choices in the
context of a rigorous curriculum and a supportive residential community.
Therefore, we welcome students and teachers of various talents and backgrounds, and we
encourage their dedication to a multiplicity
of pursuits —intellectual, spiritual, and physical—that will enable them to succeed in and
contribute to a complex, changing world.

Mon., May 30
St. George’s School admits male and
female students of any religion, race, color,
sexual orientation, and national or ethnic
origin to all the programs and activities generally accorded or made available to students at
the school. It does not discriminate on the
basis of religion, gender, race, color, sexual
orientation, or national or ethnic origin in the
administration of its educational policies,
scholarship and loan programs, or athletic and
other school-administered programs. In addition, the school welcomes visits from disabled
applicants.

* For information on additional events, visit the St. George’s School Facebook page, our web site
www.stgeorges.edu or contact events coordinator Ann Weston at Ann_Weston@stgeorges.edu or
401.842.6731.

St. George’s School
P.O. Box 1910
Newport, RI 02840-0190

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St. George’s School

S T. G E OR G E ’S
2011

winter Bulletin

St. George’s School
2011 winter Bulletin

In this issue:
Science students land coveted internships
in Paris BY SUZANNE L. MCGRADY
Three students have ‘backstage pass’ on library
project BY SUZANNE L. MCGRADY
Hark back to your Hilltop days: Selections from
the Red & White archives
Chapel talks:
Choosing happiness BY VICTORIA LEONARD ’11
A shower of thoughts fits together BY ZACH MASTRODICASA ’11
The ‘well-rounded me’ came before the ‘egg’ BY CHAD L ARCOM ’11
Finding home in an unfamiliar place BY ABI MOATZ ’11
Giving (and getting) a second chance BY SAM PETERSON ’11